MACHINATION: Another Day
by tofu-melon
Summary: /HiruRyo, ES21-xover/ A series of shortstories on Hiruma's and Ryoma's relationship following after MACHINATION. "Your Blood" - "'This book says we aren't a good pair.'"
1. I'M ALWAYS BY YOUR SIDE

Haha, I already told some of my reviewers that I had planned to release a few short stories following MACHINATION... and by _a few_ I mean FIFTY.  
So fifty short stories based on MACHINATION using the themes I got from the LJ community named "ryoma_castle."  
I hope you're prepared.

**MACHINATION: Another Day**

01..."I'm Always By Your Side"

"Echizen!"

Ryoma straightened at the call of his name and looked up from his yakisoba bread only to find Fuji happily making his way over to the boy with his own lunch gathered in his arms. With a sigh, Fuji sat down beside him and smiled sweetly at the other boy who resumed eating unceremoniously. "It's a lovely day to be eating outside, hm?"

"Hn."

Fuji chuckled and reached over, wiping off a bit of bread crumbs that were stuck on the corner of Ryoma's face. "Fufu, are you possibly tempting me to lick off your silly little mistakes, Echizen?"

Fuji had gotten better. He took control of his own emotions, that he had formerly allowed to pine after Ryoma, and dedicated himself solely to Tachibana, who was doing a very good job of slowly, but surely, making Fuji fall for him.

But that didn't mean Fuji didn't have the right to _flirt_ with the boy, and Ryoma, knowing advances from Fuji when he saw one, only smirked and leaned closer to the brunet and fluttered his eyelashes almost daintily. "Are you not wanting to then?" he purred with a husky voice. "Should I step up my game?"

"Oh no," Fuji assured him and wrapped a friendly arm around Ryoma and brought him closer. "You are doing just fine."

Ryoma snorted and continued to eat, not pulling away from Fuji who began on his own lunch. The two stayed that way the entire lunch period, sharing small talk and inside jokes while laughing and enjoying themselves.

Ryoma liked having lunch with his teammates, former or current, and it wasn't strange for any of them to show their appreciation for their youngest member by bodily tackling him or wrapping him up in their arms until he turned blue. It was very common behavior, and Ryoma was fully used to it now, not that he _liked_ it or anything.

But it was that same day after school and practice, Hiruma came stomping over to him from the front gates, looking like the devil himself. Ryoma stiffened, bracing himself for any sort of angry hollering or gun waving the blond might do.

And when Hiruma came up to him and stopped right before him, he reached into his school blazer and whipped out—

—a picture.

"What the fuck do you think you were doing with the Fuckin' Fox?!" Hiruma demanded, eyes reflecting the very pits of hell in his anger, but Ryoma didn't pay any attention to it. He was riveted to the photograph that was shoved in his face (rather rudely), and wondered how Hiruma had gotten his hands on this at all.

It was a photo of Fuji and Ryoma, each eating their respective lunches, and huddled up against one another rather comfortably. Fuji was leaning over closely, looking like he was resting his head against Ryoma's shoulder, and seemed to be whispering into the boy's ear. Ryoma hummed; it wasn't a bad picture.

"You fuckin' slut!" Hiruma shook the picture for emphasis, "Letting everyone have a taste!"

Ryoma sighed, looking at his enraged boyfriend with bored eyes. "You're overreacting," he told him bluntly, but it seemed to fly right over Hiruma's head as an insane sneer spread over his lips and he hissed, "Well there's a quick solution for everything," he then whipped out weapons from out of nowhere and his head cocked back, sending wild cackles to the sky. "I'll just kill everyone here!"

"You'll go to jail," Ryoma deadpanned and focused his attention back on the picture, curious about it. "How'd you get these anyway...?" Then he froze, realization flashing across his eyes and he looked at Hiruma who edged back a bit. "Could it be..."

"... what?"

"You've planted a camera on me—"

"Then this sort of angle would be impossible, right?" the blond growled and Ryoma heaved a sigh in relief. "Of course. I'm sure not even _you_ would stoop that low, right?" Planting cameras was something to be _expected_ from Hiruma. But putting hidden cameras on potential blackmail victims and putting them on his boyfriend were two very different things, and surely Hiruma would know the difference...

Hiruma cackled ambiguously and Ryoma glared fiercely, already stepping up and ready to take him on. "I swear Hiruma-san. If you even _tried—"_

Hiruma shook his head and grinned toothily. "I wouldn't," he told him.

Ryoma nodded firmly. Of course Hiruma didn't, because if he did he'd find himself with tennis balls down his throat and left without any sort of physical contact with him _forever_. Surely the latter was by far the crueler punishment.

"I wouldn't have any need to place cameras on you. I just have slaves to do all that dirty work for me."

Ryoma pursed his lips. "That's worse."

Hiruma shrugged and took Ryoma's hand in his, looking over the photo in his other hand with faint interest. "It's my way of showing love for you. I go out of my way to actually plant slaves in Seikokkou to make sure you're safe and not cheating on me with bastards like _him._" And he proceeded to stick the photo in Ryoma's face who batted it away with a frown.

"Who's cheating?" Ryoma snapped and began walking, hands still holding onto Hiruma's and he tugged the blond forward with him. "And you should really stop that sort of suspicious behavior. As much as you might think so, I don't appreciate you spying on me like that."

"I'm not 'spying,' Fuckin' Prince. I'm told you. I'm just making sure you're okay. I can't keep my eye on you all the time because we have other things we need to do, but I want to at least make sure that you're not suddenly gonna die on me or anything," Hiruma said earnestly, getting a wide-eyed look from Ryoma who seemed touched, but the effect was ruined by the long smirk on Hiruma's face and the sinister laughter that followed it. "That'd just be an easy escape."

Ryoma rolled his eyes with a huff. '_Why can't this idiot just say he's worried?'_ "Stupid. That sort of stalking isn't necessary." But he was unable to stop the smile from creeping onto his face and the warmth that blossomed lightly on his cheek. "Let's go, buy me lunch."

"Using me like that..." Hiruma frowned, allowing Ryoma to pull him towards the nearest burger shop. "You're lucky I let you get away with it."

"Yeah, yeah," Ryoma drawled lazily, not caring if Hiruma was the devil himself. If he could buy burgers without having to actually _pay_ for them, it was all good. "Oh and make sure to throw those pictures away."

"Fuck you. Blackmail obtained."

"Hiruma-san!"

-"I'm always by your side" end-

And this is the beginning.


	2. HIDING AWAY

This one is rather short and HOT, huh?

**MACHINATION: Another Day**

02..."Hiding Away"

He was feeling so hot and sticky right now, such an uncomfortable feeling, but it was being coupled with an almost impossible sort of pleasure that spiked through his body. The drug-like haze that fogged up his thoughts was a welcome feeling, because he was sure that if he was thinking right now about _"So good...", "There, right there...",_ and _"More, more, more..."_ he was sure he would've died from the embarrassment. It was much better to just speak what he wanted and not think about it all.

"Ryoma..."

Another gasp sounded from him, but any sounds that might have come out after that was effectively silenced by hungry lips that pressed so hard that it was bruising, but still felt _so nice_.

Shaking hands reached up and buried themselves in blond locks, limp and drooping from the humidity in the air and the sweat on his skin. Lips were eventually pried open and desperate tongues met each other in a familiar dance following the music of throaty moans and low groans.

"Nn..."

He then bucked up into the other's firm thigh, feeling a sharp sort of relief at that moment, and it intensified when the other grabbed him around the waist and brought his hips forward, crushing their bodies together.

There was no room for them to pleasure each other properly, their two bodies filled up the small space, so their frantic movements, like the undulating waves of an ocean hitting each other, keening and moaning all the while, desperate to feel each other fully and relieve themselves of the intense _heat, _knocked things off the walls and brought forth a hissed curse when one of them knocked his foot against something hard.

The loud pantings became heavy with the last few thrusts and jerks and he let out a small cry as he felt the chilling sensation of release that sent shivers up his arms.

There was a soft moan above him that signaled that the other had been relieved as well and the bruising grip on his waist lessened.

They stood that way, still pressed up against each other, feeling wet and somewhat nasty now that the pleasure had ebbed away, while trying to regain their bearings.

"... keke, when I said makeout session in the janitor's closet, I didn't think it would come to this."

"Well it has, stupid Demon. What are you going to do now?"

"What? You want _me_ to take responsibility for your fuckin' hormones?"

"_YOU_ came onto me!"

"Keke. So I did. What now? Your captain must be fuckin' _pissed_ since I just stole you away from practice, huh? Of course you could go back now or stay a while with me."

"In the janitor's closet?"

"Like I said, you could go back now, suffer 50 laps in the hot summer heat, or just stay here... to... _cuddle_."

"... ... I think I'll just stay here a bit longer."

"Good choice, Fuckin' Prince."

-"Hiding Away" end-

Of course, they don't think before they just go "aahn" in their pants. How are they going to go home now?


	3. LOVE COMPLEX

I really like Suzuna. She's cute.

**MACHINATION: Another Day**

03..."Love Complex"

Taki Suzuna was a normal girl. Sure, she had amazing skills with roller blades, but that only came with constant practice and great love for the sport. And being a normal girl, Taki Suzuna liked to gossip. In fact, she loved gossiping so much she had a built in gossip radar that spotted gossip about anything in a 15-feet radius.

It happened whenever Ryoma came to visit Deimon after being let out early in his own practice that Suzuna's radar seemed to go on overdrive and nothing ever escaped her gaze (not even when Hiruma leaned over to whisper in Ryoma's ear and placed a quick kiss on the boy's cheek instead).

And because she didn't have normal practice with the team, she liked to sit next to a blank-faced Ryoma and talk away about how he and Hiruma were doing. Or how she thought they were doing.

"Did you guys go on a date yesterday? How did it go? Did you guys share a drink with two straws on either end while the sunlight shined so brightly in your eyes and—"

"You do know," Ryoma said steadily, cutting the girl off, "that if Hiruma-san figures out you're trying to find blackmail material on him, he won't be very happy."

Suzuna smiled sweetly. "I'm not trying to find blackmail material on him. I'm just interested in your love life with him!"

Ryoma rolled his eyes. _'Same difference.'_

"Hey, hey," Suzuna chirped, nudging Ryoma with a cautious finger. "I was wondering... but... does You-nii have any particular eating habits?"

Knowing Suzuna well enough to assess that this was not a weird question coming from her (actually it was downright normal), Ryoma responded without missing a beat, "Doesn't he eat with you guys?"

"But I'm sure you stare extra hard 'cause you guys are in love, right?"

Ryoma paused, turning to her slowly with a bewildered look on his face. "... what?" _'This girl is so single.'_

"I'm sure it's like that!" Suzuna insisted, her hands clenching into fists and her face brightened with a grin. "I'm sure you're life is pink colored and you guys are romantic with each other, and when you're eating I'm sure You-nii would purposely leave a crumb near his mouth ("He wouldn't," Ryoma argued) and you would lean over and lick it off! ("No, no. I wouldn't do that." Ryoma tried to deter her helplessly) Yaa! So cute!"

Ryoma silently stared at the pink-faced girl, before turning away with a heavy sigh. This is what he got for coming over to Hiruma's practice, he supposed, rather than just going home.

"Ryon-kun?" Suzuna called, concerned by his lack of enthusiasm. Ryoma just waved her worries off. "No, it's nothing." It's not like he's very enthusiastic ever when it didn't concern tennis. "Hey. Is the... licking off thing what... normal couples do?"

Suzuna nodded excitedly. "It is!" she confirmed. "Then when they walk in the park they would pick flowers and put them behind each other's ears!"

Ryoma snorted at the image of Hiruma with pink and white flowers in his hair, feeling a cold chill run down his arms at the sheer wrongness of the picture.

Suzuna, not noticing Ryoma's shiver, continued with a bright gleam in her eyes. "Then when they go shopping together, the girlfriend would say something like, 'Ah, I've always wanted this' and then her boyfriend would secretly buy it for her!"

Ryoma perked up at the mention of this, blinking owlishly in slight wonder as he realized, 'Ah. Hiruma-san's done that for me.'

They had gone shopping for some of Ryoma's tennis supplies, and Ryoma had made some offhand comment about needing some grip tape for his racket soon, but how it was such a bother to buy. It was the next day while Ryoma was changing into his tennis uniform that a roll of tape fell out from his folded clothes with a note attached to the sticky end: _"Buy it yourself next time, Fuckin' Prince."_ It warmed Ryoma's heart considerably.

"And when they kiss, the boyfriend would hold his girlfriend's face in a gentle grip and just stare into her eyes for a bit," Suzuna gushed dreamily, hands covering her blushing cheeks and she stared happily off into the distance.

Ryoma looked away and ducked his head down to hide his own flushed cheeks. _'We do that too...'_

"And right before a date, the girl would make sure to put on her best clothes and spray her best perfume before going out to meet him."

Ryoma absently thought back to the times he took an extra minute to make sure his hat was on straight and his clothes were fashionably messy.

Suzuna let out a soft sigh, leaning against Ryoma with an airy smile. "Aah... it's really so romantic—"

"What are you two talking about?" Hiruma, who had approached them from behind, cut in sharply. He had an annoyed from on his face, and Suzuna quickly got off of Ryoma and turned to face the blond excitedly. "You-nii!" she chirped. "Ryon-kun and I were talking about your relationship and how perfect it really is!"

A lazy grin stretched across Hiruma's face, baring his sharp teeth to the pair. "Oh really?" he drawled, looking sideways at Ryoma who turned away with a, "Hmph."

"The Fuckin' Manager is look for you," he said to Suzuna and the cheerleader bounced up from the bench and waved farewell to both of the boys before skipping away happily, leaving Ryoma and Hiruma alone with each other.

" ... what were you really talking about," Hiruma asked and Ryoma shrugged absently. "Nothing important."

"Hmm?" Hiruma hummed and leaned over Ryoma dangerously, bringing a hand up to cup his face. "Oh really?" he breathed and simply looked into Ryoma's stubborn eyes for a bit before leaning in to kiss him chastely.

"Hiruma-san," Ryoma murmured, grinning against the other's lips. "Wanna go to the park and pick flowers sometime this week?"

-"Love Complex" end-

I don't quite know what a "love complex" is... but I figured it would be something like this.


	4. IT'S ENOUGH

A sort of "Hiruma goes super-saiyan" story this time. (Only not.)

**MACHINATION: Another Day**

04..."It's Enough"

Eiji hummed happily, swinging his bookbag in one hand and his tennis bag in the other. He had just come from practice and successfully escaped from being the "guinea pig" to Inui's new special juice. '_God bless you Momo for being the brave soul you are to take it in my stead.'_

Then Eiji paused, catching sight of two familiar figures standing close to each other, talking in hushed tones. With a wide, quirky grin Eiji bounced up to the two and immediately pounced on the smaller one. "Hoi, hoi! Ochibi!"

Ryoma stumbled forward from the sudden extra weight and Hiruma steadied him with a hand on his shoulder, shooting a glare at the redhead that was promptly ignored

"Kikumaru-senpai," Ryoma greeted darkly. Eiji easily brushed off the warning hidden under Ryoma's voice and moved onto a much more interesting topic. "Are you two going out on a date?"

Ryoma glanced at Hiruma who's lips were pursed tightly and looked very unimpressed.

"Yes," the younger boy answered and tried to shoved Eiji's arm off him to no avail.

"Hehe. Hiruma's always coming along and dragging Ochibi to dates, huh? It must be nice being young, right Hi-ru-ma-chan?"

Hiruma twitched.

Ryoma was now starting to feel that if he didn't stop Eiji now, that something _bad _and probably _illegal_ was going to happen. " Um... Hiruma-san is just a year younger—"

"My!" Eiji cut him off, eyes and mouth round with mock shock. "_Just_ a year? What a surprise! Isn't that right, Hiruma?"

"Fuckin' Acrobat if you don't cut that shit out right now—"

"Ochibi!" Eiji hollered, tightening his grip around Ryoma's neck, making the boy choke. "Your boyfriend just threatened me! Are you sure he's treating you right? Since Ochibi is so delicate, Eiji-senpai worried for you, y'know."

Ryoma frowned, not noticing how Hiruma's finger instinctively curled as if to pull the trigger of a gun. '_Worry? Why?"_

Hiruma wouldn't lay a hand on him, and all he says are words nowadays. Eiji had nothing to worry about.

"Are you sure he's treating you well enough?" Eiji continued, rocking to and fro with Ryoma tight in his arms. "Pinching you? Tickling you until you can't breathe? Getting you involved in fights?"

Ryoma blinked and a frowned pulled over his lips. '_The last one. Hiruma-san did the last one_.'

Hiruma did get him involved in one fight. Although it wasn't "get him involved," it was more of an "oops, sorry met some old enemies and they think they'll solve everything by picking on you" sort of thing.

They were just out hanging around that day after a late-night movie and were suddenly encountered by a three-person group of street thugs that seemed to know Hiruma. They approached him with their glares and curled lips.

"'Tch," Hiruma spat. "Zokugaku."

Ryoma stared at the three with bored eyes, looking at their pompadours with a faint sort of interest. "Are they your friends?"

"As if."

Then one of the boys, he appeared to be the leader of the group, stepped up with a mean looking glare and jerked his chin in Hiruma's direction. "Hey, you the one 'dey call Hiruma?"

Hiruma sneered and relaxed his shoulders. "Who's asking?"

"Kamiya Genzou of Hayashibara Rui's gang 'course!" the boy declared, jabbing a thumb into his chest before he pointed a finger right back at Hiruma. "You the one that made the boss yo' slave?"

Ryoma was _not_ impressed by the "gangster" act. '_Useless, redundant questions. Of _course_ he did._'

Hiruma seemed used to these types as he was hardly fazed and went on smoothly. "Kekeke. What of it?"

"We don't appreciate that sorta behavior. If you make the Zokugaku's boss yo' slave, that's just disrespecting us all. Ain't that right?" he turned to his buddy on his left who crossed his arms across his chest, bulging out his arm muscles menacingly. "Dat's right, and we just don't accept that sorta thing 'round here."

"Typical high school delinquents," Ryoma sighed, not even bothering to whisper. "I was hoping you weren't one of them too."

Hiruma looked almost offended and he merely snorted in disgust. "Hmph. How rude. I just merely made their boss my slave for a little while. It was that or I dismantle their motorcycles."

"Why didn't they just give up their bikes?"

Hiruma grinned fiendishly at his boyfriend. "Because to them, that's like chopping off their di—"

"You're the devil," Ryoma snapped and turned back to the three who were all doing their individual intimidation poses. "What are you gonna do?"

"Nothing else to do but _force_ my way through," and with that, Hiruma slowly pulled out his Devil's Handbook from inside his pocket and flipped through it. "You said your name was Kamiya Genzou?" he asked, and he stopped on a page, his eyebrow raising in amusement. "Ah. Interesting that I have a little something on you here."

"Wha...?" Kamiya eyed the little, black book suspiciously. Ryoma thought that he had all the reason to, knowing just what Hiruma put in there.

"Kamiya Genzou, age 16. A freshman at Zokugaku and on the baseball team," Hiruma read off calmly, "It says right here you still have a nervous habit of sucking on your thumb, and is afraid of the dark. So you have a little nightlight in your room that's shaped like a—"

Kamiya screamed, waving his arms like a madman. " SHUT UP!!" he had furious blush staining his cheeks and he glared at his two friends who were sniggering behind their hands. "H-How did you...!?"

Ryoma leaned closer to Hiruma, curious. "What's it shaped like?" Hiruma showed Ryoma who snorted and turned to Kamiya with a look of piteous disgust.

"Kekekeke. How did I know?" Hiruma cackled wildly, seeming to have too much fun with this. "I fuckin' _always_ know!"

Kamiya, red in the face, suddenly lets out a cry and spurns forward, fist clenched tightly and pulled back, ready to strike. This brought the other two into motion and they also pose for an attack.

Hiruma dodged Kamiya's punch easily and the gangster stumbled a bit before he regained his footing and glared at Hiruma as he headed for him again, only to find Ryoma standing in his way, so he shoved him away, making him fall to the ground. "Move it, bitch!" he snarled nastily.

Ryoma hit the ground with a soft grunt and an audible smack. Hiruma whirled around at the noise, looking away from his other two attackers, and he stared at Ryoma who had fallen on the ground, grasping his arm with a pinched face, then at Kamiya who was rushing at him again.

Then, without a single word, Hiruma let loose a fast fist at Kamiya's gut. The fist connected with a solid noise and Kamiya felt his breath being knocked out of him and he fell over, clutching his stomach. "You bastard..."

The other two were knocked down quickly and painfully with a broken nose and a dislocated shoulder, before Hiruma rounded on Kamiya and kicked him in the face with the tip of his shoe. Kamiya fell back, looking at the blood all over his hands, and he winced at the sharp pain from his cut lip.

Hiruma slowly stepped towards Kamiya. A dark shadow fell over his eyes; he looked much like the devil himself with his cold eyes and evil aura. "Oi. Was it you? Did you touch Ryoma with your fuckin' filthy hands?"

Ryoma gasped, "Hiruma-san..."

Hiruma grasped the front of Kamiya's shirt and pulled him up to his knees. The thug trembled in his hands and he was sobbing and begging frantically, "P-please forgive me..."

"You're going to die now. I'm going to kill you."

"P-ple-please..."

Ryoma grabbed Hiruma's shoulder and pulled at him. "Hiruma-san! It's just a scratch!"

"Shut up! I don't care _what_ it is, it's the fuckin' fact that this bastard _hurt_ you!" and Hiruma whirled back around to cause some serious damage to Kamiya, but found the boy passed out and foaming at the mouth. Hiruma scoffed and tossed him aside like garbage. He then hurried over to Ryoma's side, tugging on the arm that Ryoma was holding carefully. "Show me where he got you."

"I'm telling you Hiruma-san," the boy started slowly, but the blond cut him off. "Just fuckin' show me."

Ryoma rolled his eyes with a small sigh and twisted his arm around only to reveal a skinned elbow with tiny specks of blood coming from the scrape. "He just pushed me."

Hiruma stared in silence for a bit before he glared accusingly at Ryoma, annoyed now. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me earlier?! It's just a fuckin' scratch!"

"I did tell you!"

"Well maybe if you didn't look like a fuckin' woman on the ground then I wouldn't have thought that he..." and Hiruma trailed off, glaring at the scrape on Ryoma's arm angrily.

Ryoma smirked, cupping Hiruma's cheek gently with his hand and he leaned over to push their lips together. "Thank you, Hiruma-san," he murmured against his lips then pulled away.

"Whatever," Hiruma growled, pulling out a roll of white bandages from inside of his gunbag and proceeded to wrap Ryoma's elbow with it. "Fuckin' Prince, just stay out of the fight next time, alright?"

"Why? I gave you sudden boost of inspiration, didn't I? Maybe if I just fall to the ground and cry a bit you'd kill everyone in the world for me?"

He meant it as a joke of course, but the look that Hiruma gave him was so serious and heated that it sent shivers down Ryoma's spine.

"What are you gonna do with them?" Ryoma pointed at the three fallen figures with a frown. Hiruma looked ecstatic at the reminder. "Kekeke! I'm going to make sure they don't mess with us again."

And Ryoma merely snorted and walked ahead, ignoring the snaps of a camera, the cackling of Hiruma, and the warm feeling that seeped from his chest to the tips of his finger.

* * *

"Ochibi?"

"Fuckin' Prince, snap out of it."

Ryoma glared at Hiruma, "Don't talk to me like that," he said sternly, fixing his hat and he turned around to leave, twisting out of Eiji's grasp with this motion, "And Kikumaru-senpai."

"Hoi?"

"... he treats me well enough," and Ryoma absently scratched at the bandage on his elbow.

-"It's Enough" end-

It's like "Berserker-Hiruma!" The demon Hulk!


	5. ONLY YOU FOR ME

Since we focused on In-danger!Ryoma last week, let's do the same with Hiruma this time!

**MACHINATION: Another Day**

04..."Only You For Me"

Ryoma had been dating Hiruma for a while now, longer than anyone (even himself) even expected. But they were dating, they were happy, and they were _never_ bored.

Boredom just didn't come in the package when Hiruma was your boyfriend.

"Get on the fuckin' boat."

And it wasn't like Ryoma was afraid of the water or anything, he liked swimming and the beach well enough, but all he could do was stand on the dock and stare at the sailing yacht with well-reasoned suspicion.

Hiruma rolled his eyes as he noted Ryoma's piercing look. "I didn't _kill_ anyone if that's what you're thinking."

_'... not yet, anyway,'_ Ryoma bit back and took hesitant step aboard the boat, sensing an emotion akin to dread filling the bottom of his stomach...

... maybe it was that curry he ate for lunch...?

The rest of the Deimon Devilbats were already onboard, clamoring excitedly as they looked around the yacht, talking of how this was "their first time ever!" and how everything was "so glamorous!" Ryoma remembered the last time he was on a ship, (he met his brother, had a gun pointed at his head, then battled to the death underwater) and he wasn't really looking forward to the rocking and salty air of the ocean.

Hiruma walked ahead of him, knocking his fists on the glass door of the cabin, signaling to the captain that they were all ready to go. Without a second wasted, the motor of the boat roared to life and slowly the yacht began to skim across the water surface smoothly. Ryoma grabbed the railings just in case.

Hiruma stood over by his teammates, talking to Musashi and Kurita in hushed tones. Ryoma didn't bother them, knowing that even Hiruma deserved some alone time with his "friends." So slowly, Ryoma closed his eyes, trying to fully enjoy the ride and discard all sour feelings. The soft murmurings of the other occupants were fading away to a slight hum that was washed away by the music of the waves and the gentle breeze of the wind against his summer-sun-heated skin. This sort of solitude was very nice as well...

Then suddenly there is a sharp gasp that alerted Ryoma's senses at once that something was wrong. Golden eyes snapped open and turned just in time to watch in horror as Sena tipped backwards; the brunet had surprised, wide eyes. It seemed that the situation hadn't caught up with him just yet...

But Ryoma understood and the others did as well as they all lunged for Sena by missed him by a hair's length and they helplessly watched as he fell into the water with a deafening splash. Ryoma didn't miss the spot of red on his legs... blood red...

Juumonji was already on the move, trying to unhook the safety tube from its latch, everyone just waited for him, calling out Sena's name as if it would help him from floundering around in the water, gasping and gulping...

What was even more surprising was following after that.

Ryoma jumped as a flash of yellow suddenly swept passed him and over the railing, diving into the water almost gracefully.

"Hiruma-kun!!" Mamori screamed.

Ryoma felt his heart jump to his throat and he threw himself at the side of the boat. Indeed, Hiruma was in the water, swimming rapidly towards Sena who couldn't seem to stop panicking. There was a simultaneous sigh of relief as Hiruma reached Sena and hauled him up, making sure his head stayed above water—

—however, no one but Ryoma saw the incoming wave that promptly swallowed them the next second. The level of panic increased and Ryoma's grip on the rails tightened.

They were fighting for their lives now. Hiruma and Sena tried to ride the waves with their own bodies, but it proved to be useless and they were quickly losing breath and chances to breathe as each wave was bigger than the next and they stayed submerged longer than the last.

'_Oh God... Hiruma-san... Hiruma-san...!_'

Juumonji, from beside him, readied himself. He held the floating tube in one hand and twisted his body around for maximum power, after using a very long second to recheck his aim Juumonji flung the safety tube into the air. It glided through the sky smoothly and everyone watched with bated breaths while Ryoma closed his eyes, unable to watch.

With a splash, the tube landed in Hiruma's reach and with his quick and agile fingers, Hiruma wrapped the rope around his hand and dragged both himself and Sena onto the tube.

Juumonji gave sharp orders to his friends to help him pull the two back up. Kurita held onto the rope at the end while the linemen flanked in front of him, each with their own steady grips on the rope.

"And, PULL!"

'_Hiruma-san... I shouldn't have come onto the boat. I knew this was a bad idea... I knew that my instincts weren't wrong...'_

"And, PULL!!"

'_I should've talked to him. I shouldn't have let Takekura-san and Kurita-san take him for themselves. He's mine. I should've talked to him...'_

"PULL!!"

'_He's going to die. I'm going to die. Shit, don't you die you damn demon...!'_

"PULL!!"

There was a pitiful squelching noise as two wet bodies landed on the deck unceremoniously. Mamori was already rushing forward with towels in her hands as he slowly helped both boys up, "Oh my goodness! Sena! Hiruma-kun! Thank goodness!"

Hiruma gave a small cough, feeling waterlogged and uncomfortably heavy. He brushed Mamori's worries off and pointed to the shivering Sena instead. "Check his foot. Make sure it's okay. We need him for the damn game."

Mamori gave him a faint nod, already looking over the bloody wound on Sena's leg. It seemed that he cut himself on the motor or the sharp edge of the ship. The cut wasn't very pretty as it ran up from his ankle to his mid-calf and was spitting blood and water.

The others began to head on over to Sena as well, seeing that Hiruma wanted the concerns of only one person the boat, and as soon as Ryoma snapped out of his relieved daze he rounded on Hiruma, eyes wide and flashing in anger. "What the hell are you trying to pull?!"

Everything stopped. Hiruma's brow lifted and he repeated Ryoma's words slowly, making sure the water in his body wasn't messing with his mind. "Pull?"

Ryoma continued, looking flushed and ready to pull out his hair in frustration, annoyance, and so much relief. "Don't you _ever_ pull a stunt like that again!" he continued heatedly, not noticing the small tick forming on the bottom of Hiruma's eye. "Stunt?" the blond said, disbelieving of Ryoma's reaction. He wasn't exactly looking for a deathly worried Ryoma who was willing to give him a foot massage, but he was at least hoping for a bit of human warmth and kisses. "You think I should've just let the shrimp _drown_ then?"

"No! I was worried sick for Kobayakawa too!" He didn't know why he was getting so angry. Maybe it was the sudden realization that went through Ryoma as he watched Hiruma disappear under the water again and again. "But the smartest thing to do would be to just throw one of the safety tubes and pull him back up! Not jump in after him! What if we..." Ryoma paused, not knowing how to go on from here. He calmed then, growing sullen as all the anger from before was sapped out of him. He never knew riding a rollercoaster of emotions like this would drain him so effectively.

Hiruma watched him with thoughtful eyes, taking note of how Ryoma just slumped all of a sudden in the middle of their argument. He never did that, Ryoma was an unmovable force much like a mountain; once he decided something he would stick with that until he grew tired of it. But Ryoma just stopped mid-sentence and stared tiredly down at his shoes, eyes bright yet dead. Hiruma reached out to grab his hand, but Ryoma pulled back and turned away, walking to the end of the boat.

While Hiruma was trying to decide whether he should follow or not, Mamori came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder with extra towels. She was smiling softly down at him, almost proudly as she draped a warm, dry towel around his shoulder. "That was a good thing you did, Hiruma-kun. Thank you."

Hiruma didn't answer, his eyes never left Ryoma's strangely tiny figure. He always looked so much bigger to Hiruma usually...

Mamori followed his gaze then gave him a knowing look. "You and Ryoma-kun argued again."

Hiruma gave a sharp glare at the club manager who simply knelt down next to him, ignoring the ice-cold eyes that were shooting bullets into her forehead. Mamori looked at him with a stern expression. She was close to Hiruma, not as much as Ryoma, Musashi, or Kurita, but enough so that she could be called a friend even though she never approved of his ways and always fought against him with her Disciplinary Committee. But as a friend, she wanted to help him and if helping him was making him get up and go talk things out with his boyfriend, then gosh-darn-it she would. "You have to understand what he's saying. I know how worried Ryoma-kun was about Sena, but you should've seen the look on his face when you jumped in after him. He was horrified." She gave a lopsided smile that Hiruma ignored expertly. "I know you were worried about Sena, but Ryoma-kun is right about the tube-thing."

Saying "Ryoma was right" was the worst thing to say at that moment as Hiruma snapped his head around and bared his teeth at Mamori like an feral animal. "But the Fuckin' Shrimp hurt his fuckin' leg! How's he supposed to play in the game with that leg?!"

"It'll be okay. Despite how he fell off the boat like that, he actually just cut his leg on something sharp on the edge of the boat. It's been disinfected and he'll be able to play in the game. It was a shallow cut. No stitches or anything necessary."

Hiruma narrowed his eyes in disbelief then turned to face Sena who was happily talking to his friends, he was still wet and shaky, but he was better. And that was it. No paleness or limping, he was just cold and shaking from the water.

"He's fine," Mamori repeated and nudged Hiruma gently. "Go talk to Ryoma." Then she stood up and left, hurrying over to Sena's side and covering him with blankets while fussing about him. Hiruma silently glared at her back, annoyed by how she stuck her nose into his business and ordered him around like that, but he stood up in the end and slowly trekked over to where Ryoma stood and grabbed the boy by his arm and pulled him away (despite all his protests of, "Hiruma-san! What—wait!") into a more isolated part of the ship.

They reached the back end of the ship, where they could still see Sena and the rest, but was out of hearing range. Hiruma pushed Ryoma down on a bench and crossed his arms. "Why are you angry?"

"... if you don't know, you're an idiot."

Hiruma shrugged nonchalantly. "Fine. I'm an idiot. So tell me so I can stop being one!"

Ryoma frowned and looked away. "You should just go and die."

Hiruma had enough. With a predatory snarl, Hiruma slammed his hands onto either side of Ryoma, gripping onto the railing behind him. Ryoma snapped to attention, golden eyes wide and shocked at the sudden movement, he pulled back instinctively and tried to curl in on himself and away from Hiruma. The action made Hiruma feel slightly guilty, but not enough for him to back off. "Why can't you look me in the eye and tell me what the fuck the problem is? You're not a woman, y'know, so stop acting like one!"

That did the trick. Ryoma pinned him with a fierce glare and drew himself up and closer to Hiruma, unwittingly striking excitement right into the blond. "Fine. You want to know what the problem is? For all that self-proclaimed genius _shit_ you spout, you just don't think about things that aren't football." Ryoma stood then, pushing Hiruma off with a shove, and even with this physical retort, Hiruma could only sigh as Ryoma's body heat warmed him. " It's that _you_ didn't think about what might happen to _you_ when you jumped off the boat and crashed into the waves. You didn't think at all about what _I_ was thinking, watching you go under and... ... If Cross-Face," he pointed at Jyuumonji for clarification, "hadn't thrown that safety line out, I... I... I think I might've just died."

Hiruma made a face, confused with their argument. "Why the hell would _you_ have died? I was the one that nearly drowned you know!"

Ryoma stood still for a moment, back hunched over and his entire demeanor was like a flustered cat with his tail between his legs. Hiruma narrowed his eyes as he saw Ryoma's face warm with a furious blush. "Because!" the tennis player choked out, hands clenching into fists. He needed to get this out. Normally, something like this, he would rather die than say... but... Hiruma needed to know. Ryoma swallowed his pride for the first time in his life and spoke, "because... if you had died... then I would just... follow you."

And Hiruma felt his resolve breaking with just those words. "Why?"

"Because just nothing compares anymore. Tennis, Karupin, the team, parents, whatever. You just... ruined my life. It's like... I can't live without you anymore."

Hiruma felt like he just heard something incredible... like the world's cheesiest pick-up line and the most arousing turn-on confession he had ever heard, said at the same time. Hiruma looked at the sky, filled with some annoyance but mostly just some warm giddiness and he sighed heavily. There was just one thing he could do now...

So Hiruma lifted his arms and slowly, cautiously wrapped them around Ryoma. The boy leaned into him at once and buried his face in his chest. Hiruma was still dripping wet and holding Ryoma in his arms like this, melding their bodies together making the other boy wet as well. But that was fine. They had made up. "You're the idiot. How the hell did you fall so hard for someone like me that'd you'd die if I did." Hiruma smirked softly when Ryoma grunted indignantly, "Shut up."

Hiruma tightened his hold on the boy, making sure he had no way of escaping the embrace. _'How the hell did I fall so hard for someone like this brat... that I would die to if he did.' _"Hey, Stupid Prince."

"Don't call me that, idiot."

Hiruma rolled his eyes, but the almost deliriously gleeful leer was still wide on his face. "Whatever. I hope you realize with this that you can't ever leave me and that I'm the only one that can make you feel like _this_."

Ryoma tilted his head back, glaring at him again. "I don't ever want to feel like this again."

"Then you won't," Hiruma assured him simply with a small nod.

Ryoma only sniffed, raising his nose in a haughty manner, much like a young and decidedly arrogant prince. "I was being ridiculous anyway. As if you could die, you're a demon."

"Thanks for that vote of confidence," Hiruma drawled sarcastically, but leaned down to plant a kiss on the crown of Ryoma's head, breathing in the scent of his shampoo and the smell of the ocean.

They would always fight, argue, and try to win against each other in whatever battle-of-the-day. But Hiruma lived for that excitement, because in the end he always came out feeling warmer than before, even as he dripped water on the wooden floors of the ship's deck.

And in the end, the feel of Ryoma's strong arms around him and his supple, slender body pressed flush against him made it all worth it in the end. As long as Ryoma came back to his arms, he would suffer anything.

And away from the pair on the front part of the ship, Monta paled as he caught sight of Hiruma and Ryoma in there own little world with hearts dancing all over the place. "Sometimes... I really wish they would stop being so lovey-dovey in our presence."

Sena gave a weak nod beside him. "I really wouldn't mind, normally... but... it's Hiruma-san..."

"Yeah. Let's go over that way."

"Right."

-"Only You For Me" end-


	6. LIBERTY

Onto happier plots.

**MACHINATION: Another Day**

06..."Liberty"

Hiruma was shooting at people again. He never hit them (he was skilled enough not to), but he _did _get dangerously close enough to make people pee their pants in fright.

And surely, Ryoma mused, this sort of 'firearm-waving' behavior was illegal in Japan.

"Has the government stepped in to intervene yet?" Ryoma asked once Hiruma was finished scaring the crap out of people. The blond only grinned toothily. "Sure," he admitted. "But they figured there's no point in it when they have wives and children they care about and don't want to lose."

Ryoma just stared. Hiruma caught his eyes and reached over to shove his boyfriend's hat over his eyes, causing Ryoma to squawk indignantly and chase after the blond with a tennis racket waving over his head.

Well, as long as it didn't bring any trouble to Ryoma, he didn't really mind.

* * *

Hiruma was late. He was normally always waiting for Ryoma against the school gates, picking him up from practice so they could both go get lunch or even just spend time together in the city, but he was late today.

Ryoma frowned and dropped his tennis bag to the ground and leaned against the same brick pillar Hiruma always waited for him at. Either his team practice was running later than usual or he missed the first train. Either way, if Ryoma left now without saying anything, Hiruma was sure to blow his top.

Ryoma fished out his cellphone from his bag and checked to see if his boyfriend had left any messages. There was one, sent during school about Deimon's extended practice due to a particular bad practice game where the point difference had only been by one field goal. The message simply told him to wait for 10 ten minutes after practice and that Hiruma would buy him dinner.

So Ryoma waited, because fighting with Hiruma was troublesome and the prospect of free food was promising.

Ten minutes wasn't a very long wait, and Ryoma was passing time by rhythmically bouncing a tennis ball against the frame of his racket. With his attention fixed on the bouncing ball, Ryoma didn't notice the suit-clad man walk up to him from behind and started when the stranger spoke to him, "Excuse me."

Ryoma's head whipped around in surprise and the tennis ball he was bouncing slid off the red frame and onto the ground. "What?" he blurted, slightly annoyed at being caught off guard and disappointed that it wasn't Hiruma.

The man apologetically cleared his throat but other than that showed no outward signs of emotions on his face. "Can you spare a bit of your time please?"

Ryoma's narrowed eyes scrutinized the man, looking at his crisp, clean suit and the stylish dark glasses on his nose. The man seemed to reek a suspicious aura and Ryoma simply spoke the first thing that came to mind, "I'm not for sale."

This got the man to flinch and burst out streams of "No, you've got it wrong!" and "I'm married and I'm happy!" and "My _daughter_ is your age!". Ryoma watched as the man sputtered and shook his hands in front of his face as if trying to ward off demons.

It took a moment for the man to regain his composure again and this time he turned to Ryoma with a grim expression on his face and said, "I just want to talk to you for a bit. Somewhere private, I was hoping."

"I'm a legal citizen."

"That's _not _it," the man pronounced and ran a hand through his short-cut hair with a heavy sigh. "Look, you're not making this easy for me. So will you just shut up and follow?"

Ryoma gave the man a lazy smirk and shrugged. "Stranger Danger," he sang. He really had no intention of going anywhere with this man. If he wasn't here when Hiruma came, then it'd just cause a whole bunch of other problem for him and Ryoma just didn't fancy that idea all too much.

"Look here kid, I don't want to have to force you—"

Ryoma's eyes visibly darkened and his body stiffened. "And I'd prefer if you didn't," he said in a low, warning tone. Ryoma didn't want to be "forced" into anything anymore. The whole "Hiruma-forced-me-to-be-his-boyfriend" incident left him with a sort of trauma he never wanted to experience again.

The man paused then and looked at the slowly darkening sky as if asking it for advice. He then heaved a sigh and shrugged. "Oh well," he said, then without warning grabbed both of Ryoma's arms and tossed him over his shoulder.

Ryoma, not prepared or expecting the sudden grab-and-toss, yelped at the impact of the sharp shoulder digging into his stomach and immediately went off into a raging tantrum, swinging his arms and kicking his legs while screaming obscenities and threats all around.

The man, lips pulled into a thin line and glasses dangling off one ear, hightailed it out of there and back to his car where he unceremoniously dumped the boy into the back seat. Without further ado, the man then jumped into the driver's chair and drove off without a look back.

And when Hiruma arrived at the scene two minutes later, all he saw was a familiar red racket lying next to a worn tennis ball with a face drawn on it.

* * *

"What the hell! This is kidnapping! I'm going to sue you and your _mother!_" Ryoma roared at the observation mirror while totally ignoring the hapless interrogator before him.

Ryoma himself didn't know where all the threats and anger came from, had it been him back in middle school, he would've just fumed and refused to answer questions, but now all he could do was promise lawsuits and painful tennis racket mauling that would leave would leave terrible bruises and scars without a doubt.

It seemed to a reasonable side of Ryoma's mind that Hiruma was more of a bad influence then he was a good one.

Minutes passed before Ryoma slowly calmed into a silent rage and he simply settled for glaring molten gold daggers at the interrogator who seemed to be getting slightly unnerved by the steady gaze. "Echizen-kun," the interrogator, a balding man with broad shoulders and heavy eyes, started slowly, as if testing the waters. Ryoma said nothing and continued to stare.

Seeing as the teen wasn't about to go off again, the interrogator straightened up and leaned casually across the silver table. "Do you know who we are Echizen-kun?" the man started and gave Ryoma minute to answer which was not taken. After the moment of tense silence, the man looked Ryoma straight in the eye, which was quite brave of him Ryoma admitted, and said, "We're from the National Police Agency of Japan."

Ryoma crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. "I'm a legal citizen," he deadpanned.

"No. No, that's not it. We're not here for _you_ really. It's... someone you associate yourself with."

Ryoma seemed to think about it for a bit. His eyes wandered around the room, taking in the cameras and listening devices hidden in the shadows. All this really irritated him, and whatever annoyed him, he annoyed back, so with a raised eyebrow Ryoma asked, "Did Fuji-senpai kill someone?"

The man seemed throughly frustrated with the boy by now. "No, it's not—"

"Then Inui-senpai fell victim to his own poison juices—"

"Echizen-kun, it's—"

"Momo-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai eventually finished each other off in a western-movie-esque face-off duel—"

"It's Hiruma! It's Hiruma Yoichi!!"

Ryoma leaned back and allowed the smirk to spread across his lips. "Of course it is," he drawled. The man looked about ready to pull out the rest of his hair. Ryoma mentally praised himself on a job well done.

"Listen to me Echizen-kun," the interrogator said seriously, there would be no more fun and games from here on. "I don't know what you know about Hiruma Yoichi exactly, but you must understand that we're only worried about your safety. Hiruma Yoichi is not a man you want to associate yourself with, Echizen-kun. Do you understand what we're driving at?"

Ryoma listened with half an ear. He was more fixed on the fact that Hiruma had yet again brought trouble into his normal-teenage-boy-life and just how annoying this whole situation was. He was well aware of the fact that Hiruma wasn't a person anyone would want to associate with, but what choice did he have? Hiruma forced himself into another's life and then made that person adjust their livelihood to his own comfort. There was no "Hey, leave me alone" with Hiruma, it was just a "Please don't hurt me too badly."

The man, not even noticing Ryoma was off on his own thought train now, went on in a desperate tone, trying to make Ryoma see his ways and completely break it off with the ruthless blond. "He bleaches his hair and has earrings, plus the fact he's simply a disturber of the peace! Echizen-kun, I understand that you're a fine upstanding Japanese citizen with a good school record, although the small number of comments from your friends and schoolmates about your personality did worry us for a bit, but you don't go around with firearms and shoot at people, so we know that your safety has to come first! Echizen-kun, we'll offer you all the protection you want from Hiruma Yoichi, so just—"

"Hey," Ryoma cut the interrogator off abruptly with his curt call. "I think you're misunderstanding here. You make it sound like I _want_ to be protected from Hiruma-san. What make you think I can't do it by myself?"

"Hiruma Yoichi is a man with a black reputation. We've had several alerts and notices about his behavior—"

Ryoma nodded, he couldn't deny any of that. "But, hey," he drawled smugly. "What does that have to do with me?"

This made the interrogator stop cold. "What?"

"I'm just saying," Ryoma continued in his same cool tone, "what makes you think I'd need all the protection? How did you come to the conclusion that Hiruma-san would _hurt_ me?" He scoffed and tilted his head to the side almost thoughtfully, smirk still in place, "If you want my own opinion... I think it's _you_ who needs the protection."

And then the door behind the interrogator exploded; it was as if the whole thing was staged. Ryoma still held his smirk as the hot air from the explosion warmed his face, and the man before him jumped up to his feet and whirled around, words caught in his throat and disbelief widening his eyes.

"Hey, Fuckin' Prince, you didn't fuckin' wait for me."

Ryoma rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I was needed elsewhere."

The smoke and debris began to fade and Hiruma, holding a red tennis racket in one hand and a RPG launcher in the other, marched forward with a toothy sneer, challenge brightening his dark eyes. "Bullshit. If I said wait, I expect you to fuckin' wait."

"I'm not your maid."

Hiruma gave a shrug and moved forward, this seemed to snap the interrogator out of whatever trance he was in and the man jumped in between the two boys, intent on keeping the blond away from Ryoma. "Hiruma Yoichi, please step away and put your hands where I can see them."

Hiruma paused and looked down at his hands. "You can't see them?" he asked, and sneered cruelly. "Are you blind?"

"Just put your hands up!"

Hiruma did as he was told, lifting his hands up and he hoisted his RPG onto his shoulder. "Happy?"

The interrogator paled and started to bat at the air. "Put that thing down! Don't point it at us!"

"Che'. You're extremely hard to please aren't you?" Hiruma mocked, and he wrapped his finger around the trigger. "Here, a healthy helping of rockets are sure to brighten up your day."

"_Wait!!_ Don't shoot!" the man yelped and stuck his hands out as if to stop the incoming bazooka. Ryoma, tired of this game, stepped out from behind the man and gave him an exasperated look. "Can I just go home now?"

"No! You can't! I just told you Echizen-kun! About the dangers and the—"

Ryoma was fed up with this entire thing, this man was bent on trying to get the two to break up for whatever reasons Ryoma already knew about, but what he didn't realize is that Ryoma. Didn't. Care. "I thought I already told you to drop it. It doesn't really matter does it?"

The man looked outraged by Ryoma's nonchalant attitude. "Of course it matters! If something happens and you're involved—"

"Hatoyama Taka. Age 46. You have an embarrassing habit of switching back to a kansai-accent when you're drunk. You also end up talking about your old, deceased dog of 15 years after your third can," Hiruma smirked, eyebrows raised, "You can't hold your liquor at all. Not to mention that one terrible, terrible accident where you took your co-worker home after a particularly bad night and you—"

"NOO!!" came the unearthly wail and the man, Hatoyama, crumpled into a scarred heap on the ground. "No more..."

Hiruma nodded and snapped his Devil's Handbook shut. "And that's that. C'mon Fuckin' Prince. Let's get some food."

Ryoma followed at once, not once looking back.

* * *

"You are _not_ worth the trouble."

Hiruma looked Ryoma in the eye and spoke around the straw in his mouth. "You sure about that? I just saved you from a kidnapping."

Ryoma angrily bit off a chunk of his hamburger and glared accusingly at the blond. "A kidnapping that happened because of you. Seriously, can you at least _try_ to not get me involved in all your illegal business?"

Hiruma seemed to ponder this for a moment before he flashed a grin and leaned forward, speaking in hushed tones, "How about we just forget this all happened and I'll make sure those guys never both you again."

Ryoma stared. There was no doubt in his mind that he could easily forget this whole incident, and there was absolutely no doubt that Hiruma could make sure that it never happened again. It was a win-win situation. "Then what's going to happen to us?"

If possible, Hiruma's smirk grew wider and his eyes brightened with a familiar light. "_We're_ going to go home and I'm going to show you just how much protection you really need from me."

Ryoma refused to react to the come-on, but allowed a small challenging smirk to cross his lips. "Protection, huh? Kinda late to start using that."

"That's what you think," Hiruma taunted and tossed his empty drink cup into the wastebasket. He stretched out his hand for Ryoma to take. "C'mon, let's go."

"Whatever," Ryoma grabbed Hiruma's hand and allowed himself to be lifted up to his feet. "And I swear Hiruma-san, next time you're late... I'm just going to leave."

Hiruma cackled ominously and wrapped his arm around Ryoma's waist, drawing him closer. "We'll see how that turns out, won't we?"

"It always ends up with sex anyway."

"... at least you know."

-"Liberty" end-

It's "Liberty" because it's freedom and Ryoma's kidnapped and.... nevermind.


	7. GUM

This takes place before the Christmas Bowl. (Ryoma: 15 and Hiruma: 17)

**MACHINATION: Another Day**

07..."Chewing Gums"

Ryoma didn't like taking orders from anyone other than his mom and Tezuka, so when Hiruma sent him a text message during class that read: "Buy me gum. Then come over" out of spite, and because he had a reputation to uphold, Ryoma bought the one kind of gum Hiruma hated most:

Sweet gum.

Hiruma went out of his way to buy sugarless gum; Ryoma remembered a time when he was forced to tag along on a shopping spree with Hiruma where they went from one convenience store to another convenience store, buying out their stock of sugarless gum (regardless of brand or flavor). When Ryoma asked Hiruma what the significance of sugar was to him, Hiruma simply claimed that "Even worms wouldn't chew sweet gum!" and they left it at that (although Ryoma secretly thought, '_Worms don't chew gum..._')

Ryoma dug through his bag, smirking when he saw the gum pack caught between his books, and pulled it out along with the spare key Hiruma gave him to his apartment. Without knocking or ringing the bell, Ryoma simply entered, calling out, "I'm here," to the empty hallway while kicking off his tennis shoes.

Ryoma dropped his bags near his shoes and surveyed the messy area for any bear traps that might be lying around (he was still traumatized from the first time he came over to Hiruma's place), then cautiously stepped into the living area and spotted Hiruma sprawled on the couch.

The blond looked at his boyfriend, not moving from his spot. "Welcome," he drawled lazily. He was still dressed in his school uniform, though his jacket was thrown messily over the back of the couch.

Ryoma walked over to Hiruma's prone body and smirked down at him. "I bought it."

"Of course you did," Hiruma smirked and sat up, drawing Ryoma closer by laying a hand against his hip and pulling him in. "Such a good child."

Ryoma made a face, but silently handed Hiruma the gum pack. "Here you go. I want a 'thank you' of course."

Hiruma, however, was staring at the paper wrapper with steely eyes. After examining the cover for a long, awkward moment, he looked up at Ryoma. He was not amused nor happy with this prank, obviously. "The fuck is this, Fuckin' Prince?"

"Gum."

They held each other's gazes, neither one backing down. Hiruma realized this was one of the drawbacks and benefits of having Ryoma as a lover (as fun as a strong-willed lover was in some aspects, they sucked during arguments). In the end, Hiruma decided it wasn't worth it. He didn't have to necessarily put the vile sticks into his mouth, and he should have expected this sort of cheeky behavior from Ryoma in the first place.

Seeing that the argument was over and Hiruma was probably going to trash the gum, Ryoma deflated, slightly disappointed. It wasn't any trouble buying Hiruma gum, but he still bought it with money out of his allowance; he had hoped Hiruma might treasure it a bit more.

But Hiruma was as stubborn as Ryoma was, so there was no way he was going to eat it...

... under normal circumstances anyway.

Ryoma pulled his jacket off and neatly draped it over a chair. While tugging at his tie, the dark-haired teen lifted his leg and climbed onto Hiruma's body, straddling his stomach comfortably. Hiruma didn't move but did look at Ryoma curiously. "What do you want?"

"Give me a piece."

Hiruma raised an eyebrow. "Of my mind?"

Ryoma frowned. "Of your gum," he clarified and opened his mouth for better measure.

Hiruma hesitated, pondering this a bit. This was a big trap, that much was obvious, but seeing Ryoma draped over him so prettily, it made Hiruma wonder if this trap would be worth the loving he'd obviously get out of it.

Against his own better judgement, Hiruma ripped open the seal of the gum pack and pulled out a stick. He unwrapped the silver paper around the gum then slowly put it into Ryoma's open mouth, brushing it against his lips and leaving a faint dust of sugar on them. Ryoma smirked, slowly chewing the gum stick into a wad. It was sweet, but Ryoma never minded sugar as much as Hiruma did.

While chewing, Ryoma leaned down and kissed Hiruma, pressing his sugar-dusted lips on top of Hiruma's mouth. It was a chaste kiss, but Ryoma's hands were beginning to move down to Hiruma's chest, teasingly fondling the hard muscle underneathe the shirt. Hiruma shifted uncomfortably as he felt the beginnings of desire stir inside him, but he didn't want to taste the gum in Ryoma's mouth or the sugar now stuck against his own lips.

"Not now..." he grunted hesitantly, bucking up underneath the smaller teen. "Throw away that vile gum then come back."

Ryoma sneered and stuck his hands under Hiruma's y-shirt. "Don't tell me what to do," he said smoothly, leaning down to kiss him again. His tongue lightly brushed against both their lips this time, as if languidly telling Hiruma to respond in turn, but the blond refused to budge; he was still contemplating the situation at hand. Sex was good, but sugar gum was bad.

However, the sugar gum was currently in Ryoma's mouth—who was _very, very_ good—

Ryoma made a small noise, purposelly, that sent shivers up Hiruma's body. His rough hands were massaging Hiruma's chest, occasionally brushing against a sensitive, taunt nipple, and making the muscles in Hiruma's stomach tighten.

Hiruma, knowing it was bad idea, looked up at Ryoma and nearly came in his pants at the sight of his sultry smile, bedroom eyes, and the tiny glimpse of wet tongue running over pink lips. Fuck Ryoma for being the erotic bitch he was.

Suddenly the gum just didn't matter anymore, and in one swift motion, Hiruma had both Ryoma and himself tumbling to the ground. Ryoma fell against the carpeted floor with a grunt, broken out of the mood by the sudden shift in positions. Ryoma felt his arms being pinned above his head, so he began to struggle at once, growling at Hiruma who was bent over him with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "What the hell are you—"

Hiruma stopped Ryoma mid-sentence with a kiss, immediately sliding his tongue in while his free hand buried itself into Ryoma's hair, pulling it back to bring his face up, shifting their positions into a more comfortable one.

Ryoma shuddered at the pain on his scalp; it was a small sting, nothing unbearable, but this pain heightened his senses tenfold, making the steamy sensation of Hiruma's kiss so much more pleasurable. Pressing his own tongue against Hiruma's teasing one, the two shared a sensual lip-lock, and Hiruma lowered himself onto Ryoma's body, relaxing contently against the smaller male's figure.

They continued to just kiss, pressing against one another, and simply enjoying the wet, hot sensation of the other to the fullest. Hiruma pulled back after a bit, a steamy smirk spread across his flushed face...

... and chewing a wad of gum that wasn't in his mouth before.

Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't want it," he teased breathlessly. Hiruma shrugged, still grinning smugly. "It tastes better now," he simply said, releasing Ryoma's hands and holding his face tenderly with both hands. "Much better."

Ryoma chuckled softly and began to unbutton the top of Hiruma's shirt. "Well, that's good," he whispered and reached up for another searing kiss.

* * *

Hiruma ran out of gum again, seeing as he goes through them faster than a chain-smoker does with cigarettes. He had practice after school, but there was no way he could practice _well_ without gum in his mouth.

So before practice began, he and Kurita hurried to the nearby convenience store and began to suck it dry of their sugar-free gum. The lady at the counter stammered nervously (she was young, so she probably knew who Hiruma was...) and brought up the total quickly. While Hiruma was pulling out money from his wallet, his eyes trailed over to the rack near the cash register and saw a familiar pink and green cover of a sweet gum. He paused, staring at it thoughtfully before he plucked a single pack from the box and tossed it in with the other gum packs.

Kurita blinked, tilting his head to the side in confusion, "I thought you didn't like sweet gum...?"

"I don't."

"... but you just—"

Hiruma smirked toothily at his long-time friend and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "But I can eat it with the right sort of persuasion of course," he cackled.

Kurita frowned; he didn't get it.

-"Chewing Gums" end-

Sorry it's short.


	8. CRAFTY ARTS

Haha. This one was inspired by a FMA doujin.

This takes place before the Christmas Bowl.

**MACHINATION: Another Day**

08..."Crafty Arts"

Ryoma's practice that day ended earlier than Hiruma's did (seeing as they were doing some hardcore training for the match against the Dinosaurs), so Hiruma asked ("ordered") him to come over to Deimon. Ryoma wanted to refuse and just go home, but then _Sena,_ ("How did you get my number?") of all people, called him and practically cried trying to convince Ryoma to come over (and honestly, Ryoma was always soft against wimpy types like Sena).

So Ryoma was currently lazing around in the Deimon Football team clubhouse, being served creampuffs and tea by Mamori who was holding a one-sided conversation with him.

Ryoma yawned behind his hand, tired and bored. He didn't particularly want to see football practice and Mamori's motherly way of talking to him was putting him to sleep. Ryoma's eyes wandered aimlessly, trying desperately to stay awake. There were pictures and diagrams hanging on the walls next to the slot machines of football plays and many famous NFL players. Ryoma even recognized a few, not that he knew anything about them (unlike Roger Federer. Ryoma could list countless things about him).

Ryoma's eyes continued to wander, before it settled on a curious looking old journal that was laying on top of the counter. Mamori was turned away, still talking, and trying to pull something out from underneath the table.

Picking the journal up without a thought of the consequences, Ryoma quickly flipped through it, blanching the moment he opened it.

"—and of course, Sena's always been a bit weak since childhood, but—" Mamori came up and her words drifted off as she spotted a familiar looking journal in Ryoma's trembling hands, "What is—AAH!!"

Mamori ripped the dark journal from out of Ryoma's hands before the teen could even protest and cradled it carefully to her chest. Ryoma's mouth was still open and his golden eyes were big and round. "What... was that?" he asked almost hesitantly.

"I-it's a log," Mamori answered as if it was obvious, but her face was so bright and red it was glowing.

"I know _that_, but... those pictures..."

Mamori flushed darker and began to cram the log into a tight space on the shelf, stammering, "B-be quiet! I'm... I'm just not that good at drawing...!"

Ryoma rolled his eyes, recovering from what was the most horrifying shock he had in a while. '_Obviously_.' But he shrugged it off. Mamori seemed to be very sensitive about her lack of artistic ability, and Ryoma didn't want an over-upset woman after him with a broom, so he dropped it. Instead, Ryoma leaned over and began to fiddle with the small Deimon Devilbats figurines that laid sprawled over the table. He absently noted the finer details that went into the Hiruma doll. "These are really well-made."

"Ah," Mamori chimed in, "Hiruma-kun made those."

"No way," Ryoma said at once, eyes wide and unblinking. '_Hiruma-san can create things? He **destroys**.' _

From behind him, the door opened and Hiruma stepped into the clubhouse, having heard every word exchanged between the two. Sweating heavily and having mud caked over his skin, Ryoma made sure Hiruma didn't touch his white blazer as the blond leaned over to catch his hand, gently touching the figurine of himself. "'Tch. You're really so rude..."

Ryoma frowned and looked up, bottom lips jutting out in a small pout. Hiruma grinned and took the invitation, gently kissing Ryoma on the lips. "Maybe you should _make_ me believe?" Ryoma suggested with a sly smirk. Hiruma raised an eyebrow and pulled back, sneering from ear-to-ear.

Hiruma _never_ backed down from a challenge, and Ryoma just handed him one on a silver platter.

* * *

"What is that?" Ryoma asked as Hiruma dropped a box onto his bed. His eyes were narrowed in suspicion, and Hiruma cackled maliciously. "Don't look so suspicious. It's not likely to explode anytime soon."

Ryoma rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

Hiruma stuck his hands into the box, rustling things around before he pulled out and stretched his hand towards Ryoma. "Here."

Ryoma cautiously leaned over and peered at the object in Hiruma's hand and gasped softly. He took the thing from Hiruma's hand and looked over it with fascination.

It was a small wooden figure of Ryoma, complete with his tennis racket, uniform, and hat. "Oh wow, Hiruma-san," Ryoma breathed, staring at the painted golden eyes and dour expression on the doll. "This is..."

"Pretty damn good, huh?" Hiruma smirked and dug through the box again. "Hang on, I have some more."

Ryoma watched curiously, still holding the doll carefully in his hands. Hiruma pulled out another wooden figurine; this one was larger with more details embedded onto it. Ryoma tried desperately to stifle his impressed look, but couldn't help the light shining in his eyes. Hiruma saw it and cackled, "This is one of my favorites."

"Hmph. Mada mada dane."

"Keke, so uncute," Hiruma handed that one to Ryoma as well and returned his attention to the box again. He came back up with another doll that looked alike to the previous one. "This one has moving joints. See?"

Ryoma did see. The elbows of the doll moved in and out and his legs bent at every possibly angle as well. Ryoma took it from Hiruma and ran a gentle finger over the synthetic hair and over the painted face. "It's... creepy..." It was like holding a smaller-version of himself in his very hands.

Hiruma only cackled and reached forward for the doll. "Not only that, Fuckin' Prince. See how _life-like_ it is?" He pulled down the Ryoma-doll's pants and pointed to a small mound between the legs. Ryoma sputtered and flushed, tossing the doll away.

"Y-you perverted freak... I'm bigger than that!"

Hiruma rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, sure," he drawled sarcastically, picking up the doll off the ground and pulling something else out from the box. "And as a bonus..."

Ryoma paled when he caught sight of the Hiruma-doll in the blond's other hand. "What...?"

"It comes with..." and Hiruma slammed the two dolls together and began to grind them. "FUCKIN' ACTION!!"

"PUT THOSE AWAY!!"

* * *

Ryoma entered the empty Deimon Clubhouse. Everyone else was out on the field practicing. Ryoma dropped his bag near the chairs and walked over to the counter where Mamori left him some cake and a ponta.

However, he paused near the poker table and looked at the many Deimon figurines lined up in what looked like an offensive position facing against another team in white and blue. But what caught his attention was the new addition that stood at the sidelines.

Ryoma sighed lowly and smiled helplessly, "That dumbass..."

The Ryoma figurine from before stood at the sidelines, looking at the Deimon team as if he was cheering them (but with the doll's expression, it looked more like he was taunting them...). Ryoma walked closer and reached over to the cluster of Deimon dolls and plucked Hiruma out of the formation and placed him next to his own doll.

"That's better," he said with a smirk, and walked towards the counter for the promised cake.

At least now, Hiruma was where he belonged.

-end "Crafty Arts"-


	9. GOLD

Happy Valentine's Day!

Double update!

**MACHINATION**

09..."Gold"

February 13th. The day before Valentine's Day.

Ryoma and Hiruma both decided they wouldn't meet today (because they were both busy anyway) due to the sheer amount of pressure they would ultimately feel if they were to have a date amongst all the pink, white, and red shop decorations.

Ryoma did well against pressure, but all the cutout hearts and chocolate discounts were a different sort of battle.

When Momo heard that Ryoma wasn't planning anything for his first Valentine's Day with Hiruma, he cornered his best friend and insisted that he at least get some cheap chocolate for his boyfriend. "But it's your _first_ Valentine's Day together, so maybe you should take some time and consideration for him, don't you think?"

"Should I?"

"YOU SHOULD!!"

So Ryoma recruited the help of Ryuuzaki Sakuno who was, sadly, the only girl he was remotely friendly with.

Sakuno, who formerly had a crush on Ryoma but was still the vice president of his fanclub, often played tennis with him outside of his normal practice times. (This led to some rumors of their relationship which was quickly put to rest after the bigger and better rumor of Ryoma's apparent homosexuality.)

So it was during one of these games that Ryoma nonchalantly started a conversation with her about gift ideas. Sakuno, even though she was now comfortable with Ryoma's presence, was as polite as every and suggested the traditional "homemade chocolate" saying, "I'm sure he'd like to eat something you made with all your heart."

'_I doubt it._' Ryoma returned a lob from Sakuno with a quick smash, which she returned with some trouble. "I find it too troublesome."

Sakuno smiled helplessly, '_You would...'_ "Then something expensive?"

Ryoma faltered at the idea, frowning almost sadly. "What can I afford off my allowance?" he asked dejectedly. Sakuno felt her brows twitch in annoyance at the question. '_Aren't you a professional tennis player already_?" she silently asked since she was brought up with tact and manners. "How about something small and meaningful then? Like a couple ring?"

Ryoma missed the next shot, freezing in his track and staring at Sakuno with wide, scandalized eyes. Sakuno shrugged. "Why not?"

* * *

Ryoma found himself packing up his racket without even finishing the game and being pulled by the hand by Sakuno to the mall; he was soon pressing his hands and nose numbly against a glass case, looking at the many silver and golden rings all lined up in straight rows next to each other, blinding Ryoma.

They were at a jewelery store. Ryoma had voted against expensive items, but did dip into his savings account with all his prize money just in case. Not too much of course, just enough for two small rings, nothing elaborate or fancy. Just rings.

"Oh! Ryoma-kun! Look at this, isn't it cute?"

Ryoma took a glance and grimaced. "It's girly," he spat out darkly. "Just because I'm dating a boy doesn't mean I'm gay."

Sakuno didn't say anything but rolled her eyes in exasperation. She went around pointing at ring after ring, and Ryoma simply stood behind her, biting mean and spiteful words at every one of her suggestions. '_So picky_...' she thought, troubled by Ryoma's stubbornness.

Sakuno continued to walk around, stopping when she saw another cute ring, and she turned to Ryoma to call his attention but paused when she saw that he was looking at something else. She slowly walked behind him and caught sight of what he was looking at: a pair of thin yellow gold rings with a single stripe of what looked like titanium metal going around in the center. It was simple, but pretty.

"Excuse me!" Sakuno called out to a shop worker, "May we see this ring up close?" Her voice startled Ryoma who whirled around with wide eyes, but he stayed silent as the worker spoke an affirmative and pulled out the ring and passed it to Ryoma who took it with almost nervous hands.

"It's pretty," Sakuno commented lightly, "Your boyfriend will like it."

Ryoma flushed, his lips curling into a stubborn frown. "I don't... care about him."

Sakuno smiled instead. This side of Ryoma was cute to her, and she made an inward promise to herself to never forgive Ryoma's boyfriend if he did anything to make Ryoma sad. She turned to the worker, still smiling. "He'll take them."

* * *

February 14th. Valentine's Day.

Ryoma and Hiruma made a date in advance at their usual burger place, which was brimming with unhappy singles who were still looking for a lucky chance at getting a late date.

Ryoma sat in his usual corner with Hiruma, looking stiff and rather uncomfortable. His eyes were darting from place to place and he fiddled with the edge of his jacket under the table. Hiruma watched his strange reactions with a raised eyebrow. "Don't look so uptight, Fuckin' Prince. People will think you're getting married today."

Ryoma hissed, his hair standing up on end, and Hiruma wondered silently if his boyfriend was ever a cat in his past life.

"I'll go do the orders," Hiruma offered, standing up from his seat. "What do you want?"

"B-burgers..."

Hiruma found himself wanting to say a million different and rather sarcastic things at that moment, but realized it wouldn't faze Ryoma the same way it would if he was in his right mind, so he just left with a small nod.

Ryoma watched Hiruma leave from the corner of his eyes, and once he deemed it safe enough, he pried open his bag and pulled out a velvet box from within. He looked at the ring box with a frown and blush. He felt awkward giving Hiruma, of all people, a ring. Like they were getting married or something.

And he didn't have a clue on how to present his gift either. He wasn't a romantic; Ryoma was headstrong and liked to destroy any obstacles with his superior instincts and confidence. Unfortunately, he wasn't feeling all that confident at the moment.

Hiruma returned quickly, and Ryoma stuffed the rings back into his bag.

"They said they were out of Ponta," Hiruma informed Ryoma who took his burgers and drinks without a word. "Do you want me to get you some?" he then offered, flipping open his cellphone just in case.

Ryoma shook his head though, not really caring about anything else at that moment. "It's... fine," he murmured, looking into the drink cup. Cola. "This is fine."

Hiruma raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised that he wasn't going to have a bitch fit about not receiving his favorite drink. "Are you trying to be less troublesome since it's Valentine's Day?" Hiruma sneered. "What a thoughtful boyfriend I have."

Ryoma peeled the wrapped off his burger and bit into it. "Don't be stupid, I just don't care."

"Kekeke, of course."

They both ate in silence. Ryoma, without Hiruma talking to him to distract him, found his eyes wander over to his bag continuously where the corner of the box was visible at its opening. With each second he was losing his opportunity, and this made his nervousness grow and his heart thump, making the blood rush to his ears and leaving him breathless with clammy hands—

"Hey. Fuckin' Prince."

Ryoma thanked God for the distraction and turned to Hiruma with wide eyes. "Hmm?" he asked in a pseudo-bored style.

If Hiruma noticed anything odd, he didn't say but instead continued on with his question. "We've been together for... a few months now, right?"

Ryoma stopped eating and stared at Hiruma instead. Somewhat apprehensive with this new topic. "Yeah. More than I figured, at least."

Hiruma sipped his coffee and looked Ryoma in the eye. "You getting sick of me yet?"

Ryoma would have answered 'yes' if Hiruma didn't sound so serious. "What a stupid question you're asking. Do you think I would continue on with this relationship if I was getting _sick_ of it?"

"Keke," Hiruma laughed, wiping his mouth off with a napkin. "Good. I would do the same to you."

"That's why we're going out with each other," Ryoma said, fiddling with the straw in his drink with a solemn expression. "We're the same in that way, we don't pointlessly waste time with games we don't want to play."

Hiruma looked at his hands. He had a rare thoughtful expression on his face. ".. but somehow, that thought doesn't comfort me..."

'Y_es... it's not supposed to bring comfort. It's supposed to make us wary of each other... that's why I'm hesitating right now.'_ His eyes wandered back to the ring box that was spilling out of his bag. _'Giving these to you would be like sealing a contract with the devil... I want to know if both of us are ready for such a commitment.'_

"We're not playing games," Ryoma told him seriously, hands clenching into tight fists. His eyes were downcasted, so he missed the relieved look pass over Hiruma's face. "Yes, that's right. I can easily say I love you, but going further than that is a challenge. 'I love you' are just words after all..."

"... no. They aren't just words." He smirked at Hiruma, looking up to meet his eyes. "From you, it feels like a conviction."

Hiruma blinked in surprise, staring at Ryoma who resumed eating once he said these words. Hiruma gave a breathless chuckle and reached into his pocket to pull something out. He laid his hand out, clenched into a fist, and Ryoma looked at it curiously. "Close your eyes and put your hand out."

Ryoma narrowed his eyes, suspicious. "I'm not going to lose my hand am I?"

"That's your decision. Now do it."

Ryoma rolled his eyes before he closed them lightly, laying his hands out onto the table.

Hiruma then opened up his fist, revealing two rings, white and yellow gold pieces linking together like skinny chains. He picked up Ryoma's hand, limp in his grip, and slowly slipped the ring onto his finger. He grinned, liking how pretty the gold was against Ryoma's tan skin, and leaned forward to press a kiss against Ryoma's brows, causing them to furrow. "Open your eyes," Hiruma breathed warmly against Ryoma's skin, and golden eyes slowly opened and looked down.

Ryoma stiffened, seeing the ring on his forth finger on his left hand. "What...?"

"Happy Valentine's Day, Fuckin' Prince."

Ryoma looked up at Hiruma then back down at the ring. After a tense moment of silence, Ryoma burst out into peals of low laughter. It was unlike him, but the weight that was crushing him was now gone, and he was relieved, troubled and _so happy_ all at the same time.

Picking up the second ring from Hiruma's hand, Ryoma slipped it on the same finger he did for Ryoma and laid a kiss on it. Hiruma smirked in response and bent forward to press their lips together instead.

After a dry, yet warm, kiss, Ryoma reached down into his bag and pulled out the velvet box. Hiruma's attention was piqued at the sight of it. "What's that?" he asked.

"You'd be surprised at how genius minds often think the same thing..." Ryoma answered, and he put the box down onto the tabletop and opened it.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Mr. Demon."

-end "Gold"-


	10. TRICK HOUSE

AAAAAAAND, I'm baaaaaaaack.**  
EXTRA NOTE:** In Asian countries, the number "4" is said to be one of bad luck (it's the Asian counterpart to the number "6" in America). I even remember going to a Korean hotel and saw that they skipped the "4th floor" and just went to 5th.  
Warning: Animal Abuse and DANGER ZONE.

10..."Trick House"

Hiruma, despite his personality, lived in a rather austere apartment complex. Honestly, Ryoma had always imagined a haunted house or the forgotten cellar to some poor chap's home whenever the topic of Hiruma's at-home life style came up, so Ryoma had to triple-check to see if he had the right address at all.

But this was the place.

An elderly woman greeted him kindly as she stepped out of the elevator and Ryoma went in. Ryoma bowed politely in return, not really knowing what else to do since this woman obviously wasn't a demon from hell and the apartment and its tenants, so far, looked completely _normal_.

It was a trap. It had to be.

Hiruma invited him over to his house for the first time in the three months they had been dating. It was never a problem for Ryoma, but that didn't mean he wasn't interested when Hiruma wrote down his address on a napkin and gave it to him, telling him to come later in the afternoon ("So I can... _tidy up_ the place.").

Hiruma lived on the fourth floor, room number "444" (and that had to be a trick, Ryoma thought. No self respecting Japanese would _ever_ have a room number "444"). Ryoma twisted the doorknob, found it unlocked and walked into the house while announcing his arrival with a light, "Hiruma-san?"

What greeted him wasn't the blond nor was it a cackling "YA-HA!" or anything of that nature—

Ryoma moved on auto-pilot as he felt something large (and very dangerous) drop over his head the moment he took a step into the hall. The resounding crash that came up with the dust and debris as a very large and heavy anvil fell from the ceiling and into the ground an inch or two away from the very spot Ryoma was standing.

Ryoma stared, unable to do anything else, at the anvil that sunk into the wooden boards. He was now faced with two different choices: "RUN AWAY" or "Proceed. You should have expected this. Mada mada dane."

And frankly, Ryoma wasn't accustomed to "running away".

Ryoma wordlessly stepped around the anvil, glaring at the emptiness beyond, eyes flashing with challenge. He would defeat Hiruma, by hook or by crook.

Ryoma saw a door to his immediate left. He grabbed the knob and paused for a bit, thinking it over. It would be insane for Hiruma to be in the first room Ryoma came across; that'd be too easy... but maybe the demon was hoping Ryoma would think that way and totally skip this room instead...

_'One way to find out...'_

Ryoma twisted the knob and swung the door open—

—only to jump back quickly as a bucketful of charcoal fell from the door frame to the ground with an echoing clang. Ryoma looked around the room and frowned. It was empty save for some weapons here and there and a leather sofa. No Hiruma.

Ryoma stepped back cautiously, making sure not step on any trap-wires or hidden switches. Hiruma wouldn't try to kill him (not that Ryoma would die easily), but to Ryoma, there was no difference between a bucket of puke-yellow paint falling on top of his head and an axe aiming to slice through his neck. Both were an equal blow to his pride (one was just more fatal than the other).

But this was a strange sort of welcome. It was just like Hiruma to plant traps like these all over his house, but Ryoma didn't think he would set them up for _him_. Plus the house's architecture in general was ridiculous for a single person apartment dorm. The hall Ryoma was standing in stretched a long ways down, doors running down along the left-most walls. Ryoma mentally counted a total of five doors (each of them with a different sort of task within them, probably).

Hiruma was a fool if he thought Ryoma was willing to be pelted by various falling objects, but that didn't mean Ryoma wasn't going to try at all (because Hiruma did go through the trouble of setting up traps in the first place, if Ryoma just went home without trying out some more, it would surely come back to bite him on the butt).

So Ryoma, cautiously looking around before taking each step, walked over to the next door. He planned on continuing on this way, opening only the five doors; if Hiruma wasn't in any of the rooms he had opened, then Ryoma would just go home (since this was just too much trouble in the first place...)

Grasping the knob in a light grip (in case it bit his fingers off; he needed those to play tennis), Ryoma slowly opened the door, knees bent and ready to spring him backwards if needed. But even that sort of preparation did him no good as a wave of cold water crashed into him, soaking Ryoma from head to toe and knocking him off his feet, setting off a dozen other traps in the process.

Ryoma rolled to the side as a tranquilizer dart shot out from a niche in the ceiling, stabbing the floor where Ryoma was a second before. The teen quickly climbed to his feet and jumped backwards, pressing his back close to the wall as orange sparks lit and sizzled down the middle of the hall.

So bothersome, really.

Taking a moment to regain himself and squeeze the excess water from his hat, Ryoma calmed his fast beating heart and shook the effects of the adrenaline from his head. '_Crap. I'm getting too into this now.'_

As soon as his stomach stopped jumping, Ryoma turned to the next door and opened it. He expected gunfire or thrown knives coming out this time, but simply gagged and released the doorknob as hundreds of little mice scurried out into the open hallway, squeaking and tittering as they crawled over Ryoma's good shoes. To keep the rest of them locked in, Ryoma quickly shut the door and stared at the ground in horror. '_These little...'_

The mice had effectively covered the good parts of the floor that were trap-free. If Ryoma hadn't known any better, he would've sworn that Hiruma had personally trained the rodents to bother Ryoma along his way down.

So this left Ryoma with two options: kick the fuckers out of the way or activate the traps.

Unluckily for the little critters, Ryoma had no sympathy towards mice.

And without skipping a beat, Ryoma trudged forward, whatever mice didn't get out of the his way met an untimely end.

The next door looked just like the other three doors Ryoma came across, except when he reached out to grab the knob, his hand automatically whipped back to his side. The knob was blazing hot; the metal was steaming and it sizzled when Ryoma's wet hand made contact with it.

Maybe Hiruma was in this room? It made sense: "the devil rests in the fires of hell."

But the knob was so hot Ryoma could barely stand it (and despite what people liked to think, his pain threshold was pretty average). But the door needed to open...

Ryoma stepped back, looking at the door thoughtfully. He kicked some mice with this movement and the water on the floor sloshed around his heels. Ryoma looked down at his shoes and the water underneath. He hummed thoughtfully, smirking as he realized the point of all these traps.

Rushing back to the first door with the charcoal and he grabbed the bucket that fell along with it. Holding it in a firm grip, Ryoma went back to the second room with the water and, as expected, saw a faucet in the wall, pouring a strong stream of cold water nonstop.

After gathering a bucketful, Ryoma turned off the faucet (to try and converse the much needed water for future generations—Hiruma-san, you wasteful bastard) and skipped on over to the door with the hot knob and he dowsed said metal in the water he got from the second room.

The knob fizzed as Ryoma expected, and once it stopped making noise, Ryoma pulled the bucket away and grasped the knob firmly, smirking as he realized it was a nice room temperature now, and twisted the door open.

The inferno that warmed his face shocked him as much as the sudden wave of water from the other trap. Ryoma shielded his eyes from the burn and after adjusting, he warily looked into the room; it was dark but the fire from the furnace created ominous shadows that flickered and played on the wall.

But Ryoma, before anything else, cursed his boyfriend as he realized his adventure was far from over.

In the center of the room, untouched by the flames or the heat, was a key that was hanging from the ceiling by a simple rope. Obviously, Ryoma needed it to get to Hiruma.

"The things I do.." the dark-haired teen grumbled in annoyance. Once he found the wayward blond, he was going to teach him a lesson. With his _racket_.

While Ryoma was standing there, watching the room with a fierce scowl, the mice began to scurry into the fiery room, which they deemed safe and far away from the big human's shoe. Ryoma watched the mice curiously as they gathered in select parts of the room, huddled together and squeaking noisily. And Ryoma made an "Ah" sound as the thought struck him.

These mice knew which spaces were trap free.

And Ryoma took his first step into the room.

The heat was near unbearable and the fact that it was all concentrated in this room for quite some time made it worse. Ryoma had trouble breathing for a bit and he immediately broke out in sweat. Covering his face with his hands, Ryoma quickly made his way to where the first group of mice was huddled and gasped a breath of relief when he felt cool air bursting out from an air vent above. His body cooled immediately and the sweat on his skin dried. Wonderful cool air.

Now, the key was no more than a few steps away. There were three other groups of mice huddled around; Ryoma hurried over and passed each other them, kicking at the rodents that were in his way. Soon, the key was within his hand's reach, so Ryoma tried to grab it, only to hiss and flinch back when his hand made contact with the hot metal. Ryoma looked at his palm and frowned when he realized that was burned raw. He wouldn't be able to hold a racket with this hand for a while... Hiruma was going to _get it_.

Ryoma, while ignoring the pain on his right hand, shuffled through his pockets lazily and came up with nothing that could be of potential help in obtaining the key, so as a last resort, Ryoma peeled his shirt off. Because of the air vent above him, his bare skin prickled with the cold, but it was bearable.

Wrapping up his hands in his shirt, Ryoma reached out and grasped the key tightly with both hands. The heat seeped through his bundled shirt, but it was simple warmth. Ryoma smirked and with a single, mighty tug, he ripped the key off the thin chain it was hanging on.

Without a second of hesitation, Ryoma dashed out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him. He just went through hell and came back. That was it.

Ryoma wordlessly dropped the key into the bucket full of water and watched as it fizzed and cooled. After a few seconds, he pulled the key out and continued on towards the last door.

If by chance, Hiruma was not in this room the moment Ryoma opened it, he would just leave. Ryoma was tired, burned and shirtless. He was going through more for _Hiruma_ than he would for Tezuka (and that was saying a lot).

But... it was exciting while it lasted. The challenge, that is.

"And here we go," Ryoma breathed, unlocking the last door with the key obtained from before and he slowly opened the door—

"What took you so long?"

Ryoma glared at Hiruma's smirking face. The last room was humbly decorated with a single swivel chair, a bookshelf, and a bed. The younger teen strode forward to give Hiruma a piece of his mind from the last thirty minutes—

Only to have his wrist snatched and before he realized what was going on, Hiruma was straddling his waist and he was pinned against the bed in the room, musing the clean white covers as he squirmed against the blond's grip. "Wait—Hiruma-san! What are you d—?!"

Hiruma flipped Ryoma's hand so the palm faced up and he looked at the burn on the palm with a critical eye. "I didn't realize that the key might burn," he murmured. He looked down at Ryoma and his eyes turned soft, "I'll take responsibility for it."

Ryoma flushed at the words and looked away. "Such a stupid thing... you don't have to stick your nose into this. It's my business."

"Yeah," Hiruma agreed, unexpectedly obedient. He brought Ryoma's palm up to his lips and gently kissed the burn mark. Ryoma shuddered and watched with a nervous look.

_'Wh... what is he doing...?_'

Hiruma pressed his lips harder onto the burn, making Ryoma flinch, and almost as if in apology, the blond flicked out his tongue and swept it over the tender skin, gently soothing it.

"You—!"

With a breathy chuckle, Hiruma ran his free hand down Ryoma's bare side, running a rough finger over the teen's peaked nipple making him jerk and gasp. "It got your blood rushing, huh?" Hiruma asked softly, whispering into Ryoma's ear while teasingly circling his sensitive stomach. "Adrenaline pumping.... did you feel good?"

"You... dirty... bastard..."

Hiruma laughed again and slowly pulled away from Ryoma who looked almost disappointed at the loss of contact. "Now that you've finished the challenge of Room 444, I suppose it's time for you to pick your prize," he announced with a grand sweep of his arms, smirking almost sarcastically. "So what'll you have? Some quality time with me later or some quality time with me now?"

Ryoma, fully expecting this, rolled his eyes but said nothing in objection. Instead, he propped himself up with an elbow and reached out his burned hand to wrap his fingers around the back of Hiruma's slender neck, playing with the stray strands of blond hair leisurely. "I want my prize _now_."

"Kekeke," Hiruma leaned down again, persuaded by Ryoma's hand. "As his highness commands."

* * *

"... what was that all for anyway?" Ryoma asked once the after-release daze escaped him. Hiruma, who lazed around next to him with a peaceful expression, looked at his boyfriend and answered, "It certainly wasn't for _you_. As if I would go through all the trouble."

Ryoma pulled a face at the blond, but took the answer in with ease. "Then it's for the team?"

"... heh, what makes you say that?"

"Because you would be the only sports captain in the world that would make his team train in such a dangerous way."

Hiruma scoffed, "Yeah, sure. Because making you play against Fuckin' Burning isn't dangerous at all." And under his breath the blond muttered to himself, "Fuckin' Glasses..."

Refusing to comment, Ryoma rolled over, trying to fit more comfortably in the snug space of the bed and ended up curling up in Hiruma's loose embrace in the end. The warmth from their naked bodies was sleep-inducing and Ryoma could feel his body grow heavier and his eyelids closed on their own accord.

"Hey, Hiruma-san..."

"Hn."

"... this isn't your real house, is it."

"..."

Ryoma smirked and said in a soft voice, "Invite me over next time."

"... yeah."

-end "Trick House"-


	11. BANDAGES

This is after the "Hakushuu Dinosaurs" match when Hiruma gets his arm broken. Some sappiness involved.

**MACHINATION**

11..."Bandages"

"HIRUMAAAA!!"

Hiruma had pushed himself too far.

Ryoma watched it happen with a critical expression. He had leapt out of his seat as his boyfriend was carried off via stretcher but stilled as soon as he did so, not knowing what he should do. Should he go? Should he stay?

Musashi was looking at him with solemn eyes and, almost as if he suddenly had Sena's speed, Ryoma dashed to the rails and dug his nails into the chipping paint and hard metal. "... what's going to happen?" he asked the kicker who looked out at the field where the other players were, still looking at the gate where Hiruma disappeared into with expressions that ranged from shocked horror to stark disbelief.

"Who knows?" the kicker answered, hardening his expressions. "... will you go to him?"

Ryoma faltered. "I..."

"Go."

Even though Musashi ordered him in a manner that normally would've irritated the teen, Ryoma felt himself unable to talk back. Perhaps it was because he didn't want to, or maybe it was the fact that Musashi reminded him too much of Tezuka at that moment. But it was something that compelled Ryoma to obey.

So Ryoma turned on his heels and ran towards the exit, worry quickening his steps as he practically flew down the stairs. Signs on the ceiling directed him towards the sick bay where Hiruma would be before being transferred over to the hospital.

As he neared the room, the number of men in white clothes increased and each of them gave the teen zipping down the hall a strange look before they realized that they had to stop him—

"Hey! You there! Stop!"

Ryoma didn't even bother to look over his shoulder as he heard the heavy footsteps chase after him. There was no way the man behind him could catch up and even if he could, Ryoma wasn't about to just let himself be pulled away without a fight.

With his pace, Ryoma quickly reached the sick bay but was stopped by the two guards in front of the door. They grabbed Ryoma by his arm and jerked him back, looking stern and menacing as they towered over the younger boy with their frowns and official uniform. "Look, kid. You can't come in here. Authorized personnel only."

"_I'm_ authorized personnel," Ryoma hissed angrily, pulling his arm out of the man's grip, ignoring the pain the ripped through his shoulder as he did so. "I suggest you let me in before I let myself in."

"No can do, kid. I'm afraid you don't have the authorit—"

Ryoma snarled and hunched over, curling his hands into tight, trembling fists. It was obviously a threatening posture and this made the guards wary.

"_Move_."

"I... I'm afraid we can't. Look, we really can't let you in. We'll be in a lot of trouble if we do—"

Whatever the guard was going to say after that was cut off as the door behind him opened slowly with a whining noise of unoiled hinges. From between the gap, Mamori stuck her head out, her lips thin, and she said to the guards in a mild tone, "He can come in. It's alright."

"Oh," the guard on the left responded numbly. Blinking wide eyes at the girl before stepping out of the way so Ryoma could pass. "I see. Our apologies. Please go ahead."

Ryoma gave him a glare as he passed, the corners of his mouth pressed down into a deep frown. He said nothing to the guard who refused to look at him and instead stepped into the room after Mamori, lightly closing the door behind him.

The sick bay was relatively clean. It was sterile with a two beds with hospital white sheets layered over them neatly. One was empty, yet it still showed signs of use. They other...

"... Hiruma-san."

It was... heartbreaking. Maybe that was the word to describe the turmoil of emotions that rose in Ryoma from the pit of his stomach to the back of his throat. He felt like he would be sick...

Hiruma was lying in one bed, Mamori standing over him with teary eyes. He had the blanket pulled up to his neck, something he normally hated, and held a wet cloth over his eyes, hiding his expression from others' eyes. He was panting softly, and Ryoma, with his trained eyes, could see the faint tremors that ran through the blond's body from the overload of pain.

Demon he might be; invincible he was not.

Ryoma understood at that exact moment: Hiruma bled red blood.

He stood by the doorway for the few moments, contemplating on what to do from here on. He hadn't planned anything on his way to the sick bay, just desperately wanting to see Hiruma... and now that he saw him... What now?

As Ryoma thought, Hiruma raised an arm slowly and made a series of signs to the manager next to him who read the given message with a straight face. It was only after Hiruma's arm fell back down onto the bed in exhaustion that Mamori moved.

She walked towards Ryoma slowly and put a encouraging hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently while she smiled at him through her tears. Ryoma looked into her blue eyes and understood.

'_He's going to do it. Please stop him.'_

Ryoma understood.

Mamori left the room with a little click of the door. Ryoma stood at the same spot he was standing at since he entered the sick bay, staring at the cloth-covered Hiruma was indecisive eyes.

Then, as if sensing Ryoma's troubles, Hiruma raised a hand and waved him over, pointing at the chair that was propped up next to his bed. Ryoma, after a moment of pause, stepped forward and sat down in the seat, feeling the chill of the metal seeping through his clothes. He said nothing, only staring at Hiruma's lips, the only part of him which wasn't wrapped up.

Then, Hiruma put his hand out again and wiggled his fingers invitingly and Ryoma watched as those lips morphed into a salacious sneer. Doing as Hiruma wanted, Ryoma fit his hand into the blond's and entwined their fingers together, locking them tightly and trying to transfer as much of his body heat into Hiruma's cold skin.

"... you're shaking."

Hiruma let out breathy puffs of laughter, unable to muster the energy to let his voice out. He mouthed at Ryoma shortly, making sure his lips formed the words he wanted to say clearly. "_It's cold."_

"Yeah. Very cold."

"_You're warm. Why?"_

Ryoma narrowed his eyes at the question and tightened his grip, making sure Hiruma felt the pressure. "... because I'm still alive."

Suddenly the grip became painful as Hiruma jerked in surprise. After a few seconds of silent thinking, Hiruma once more let out an obscene smirk and ran his thumb down the softer skin of Ryoma's hand seductively. Ryoma rolled his eyes but didn't pull away, allowing Hiruma to draw circles on the sensitive spot between his thumb and forefinger.

"Are you going to go back out there?"

Hiruma said nothing, but his teeth-baring grin said all.

"I see."

"_So what?"_

Ryoma shrugged, leaning back comfortably into the chair. "Azuki-san said I should stop you, but it's really not any of my business." ("_It's Anezaki."_)

Hiruma nodded in agreement. True. It wasn't any of Ryoma's business. That was there agreement. Ryoma wouldn't step into his football life and Hiruma wouldn't stop into his tennis life.

"But y'know..." Ryoma started slowly, as if carefully choosing his words. He wasn't the type to think about what he was going to say (if he wanted to say something, he would say it), but with Hiruma and love... it was tricky business. "As your boyfriend... it sort of... hurts. This kind of thing... hurts me. I keep seeing that memory of you being knocked down by that... son of a _bitch_ monster, and how everything seemed to just stop then, and I wished and wished that it might only be a dream but..." Ryoma lowered his head, starting to loathe the words that seemed to spill from his mouth with end. "But here you are. Bitten into pieces by a _caveman_. And you're going to go back onto that field that almost destroyed you? Are you a masochist? Does your life mean nothing to you in comparison to _football_?"

Hiruma turned his head towards him then. Unable to look at him because of the cloth covering his eyes, but he faced Ryoma all the same and mouthed clearly. "S_orry."_

"... even if I say something embarrassing like that you're still going to go, huh?"

It was obvious to anyone who knew him well enough: Hiruma loved American Football. And that love was transferred into love for his teammates (but he'd rather kill himself before he told _any_ of them that), and he knew that if he didn't get his "fuckin' ass back in the game", he would end up facing a shitload of bad things that he didn't want to deal with.

Ryoma let out a soft chuckle, wrapping his other hand around Hiruma's and he simply held the long fingers between his palms, as if praying. Golden eyes disappeared as Ryoma closed his eyes and pressed his lips, dried and chapped, to the tips of Hiruma's neat nails and whispered lowly, making Hiruma strain to hear, "I'm kinda jealous."

Hiruma grinned and the warmth in his heart spread to the rest of his limbs and suddenly the pain drifted away like a passing raincloud.

"_Mada mada dane."_

So Hiruma rose from the dead in order to save the people he cared for and the game that inspired him.

-end "Bandages"-

Hiruma loves Ryoma and Ryoma loves Hiruma. **BTW NEW POLL UP. RELEVANT TO MCH SERIES. PLEASE VOTE.**


	12. MEMORIES OF YOU

This is probably a few weeks after the last chapter of MCH. Not yet Christmas Bowl or Hakushuu.

**MACHINATION: Another Day  
**

12..."Memories of You"

They had promised to meet up at Ryoma's house for a short study session (and both teens knew it would be short as they wouldn't be able to keep their hands off of each other for too long. Then the "study session" would turn into a "make-out session" instead). Ryoma was having a bit of trouble with his current curriculum in his science class and Hiruma _graciously_ offered to help him out ("You be my slave for a day." "… _what_.").

But, because he never paid attention to it before, it seemed that Ryoma was assigned to class duty that very day and was caught by his class president before he could escape ("Iinchou hurts people.").

Hiruma rolled his eyes and shrugged, telling his boyfriend that he'd be waiting at his house until he came back. Ryoma grumbled something nonsensical then hung up and Hiruma grinned as he realized it was a "shy-boy apology."

"Fuckin' Prince can be cute too, huh?"

So, as he promised, Hiruma trekked over to Ryoma's house, a place he visited often but never without Ryoma at his side.

Rinko, all smiles and motherly-warmness, opened the door for her son's boyfriend when he rang the doorbell and welcomed him in, offering him food and drinks all the while, which Hiruma declined. He sat down in the living room, answering Rinko's questions ("How are you?" "_Wonderful."_ "Have you seen Ryoma today?" "_Talked to him."_ "Are you staying for dinner?" "_Are you guys having nabe? Then yes."_) and listening to her chat in general ("Nanjiroh is at the temple. He's been skipping his duties and I just found out so I gave him a good talking to." "_You go, girl._").

He liked Ryoma's mom. She didn't pry and was polite with her questions and made them easy for Hiruma to answer (without him having to mention something that the woman would probably not be happy about. Like sex or his gun collection that Ryoma took a sudden interest in).

Hiruma took his usual seat on the couch in the living room, spreading his legs out comfortably. Rinko had gone into the kitchen to brew some tea, just in case Hiruma changed his mind. She couldn't be called anything other than a good hostess.

Rinko's light and airy humming created a warm atmosphere that had Hiruma leaning deeper into the soft cushion of the sofa. His dark eyes lazily scanning the familiar living room. There were many pictures lined up on the walls; photos of wide-eyed baby Ryoma showing off his missing front teeth with a pride that only he could muster at that age.

His attention was pulled away from his favorite photo as Rinko walked out of the kitchen with cup of tea on a tray. She set it down in front of the blond with a congenial smile then sat down on the couch across from him. "So what were you and Ryoma planning on doing today?"

"He just asked for some help on his homework," Hiruma answered honestly, not bothering to straighten out his slouched position. Rinko didn't seem to mind as she clasped her hands together with a bright grin. "Oh! How thoughtful of you! You really are such a good boy, Yoichi-kun."

Hiruma lifted the teacup to his lips to the hide his smirk. He honestly didn't have many adults who had a positive outlook on him, and he had never been called a "good boy" by anyone before either. It was a strange feeling. "Nah, it's nothin'."

The woman laughed softly and was about to reply back but was cut off as a familiar voice called her from outside. Both Rinko and Hiruma turned to the front door as Nanako entered with a bright grin on her slightly dirty face and her arms full of dusty books. "Obaa-sama! Guess what I found!"

"What is it?"

Nanako bounded into the room, nodding her greeting to Hiruma before looking back at Rinko with a giddy expression. She laid out the many books on the coffee table and opened one, showing many glossy photos pasted onto a thick page. "It's Ryoma-san's baby pictures! I found them while cleaning up the storage room. Plus Hiruma-san is here as well, wouldn't it be fun to show him Ryoma-san's old photos?"

Hiruma's eyes shined at the idea and Rinko looked positively delighted. "Oh how wonderful! Come closer Yoichi-kun!"

The three huddled together over the pictures, the women making little noises of joy while Hiruma's calculative eyes scanned the page and allowed his mind to fully consume the images of little Ryoma doing things toddlers did.

"Oh so cute!" Nanako cooed, pointing a finger at a photo of Ryoma with big, wet and angry eyes. "He looks so annoyed, just like Ryoma-san!"

Rinko laughed along with her niece joyfully. "I remember taking this photo. It was Ryoma's first Christmas so we tried to dress him up in a little suit. My baby didn't like that much. He always did prefer walking around in just his diapers."

"Just diapers?" Hiruma echoed with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh I remember," Nanako said brightly. "I visited with Mom once and I remember Ryoma-san just waddling around in nothing but his diapers, dragging a tennis racket twice his size."

The two women laughed fondly at the memories while Hiruma tried to still his twitching fingers. He wanted to write all this information down!

They flipped though the pictures, the women excitedly talking between themselves about Ryoma's childhood. He apparently had a fear of worms back then and refused to go fishing with his father (who looked forward to it so much) and had a cat doll (Karupin the First) which he loved so much that it eventually lost its head during nap time, and this frightened Ryoma to no end ("He cried and cried and begged his father, 'We need to go to the doctor for Karupin! Karupin's going to die!'"). Hiruma just listened and looked on silently until his eyes landed on a certain picture that caught his attention.

"This one…" he said with a finger on the glossy cover. Rinko looked at the picture he was talking about and clasped her hands together with absolute glee.

"Oh! I remember this so well! Ryoma was so cute back then."

Nanako gasped, a pink blush on her cheeks. "Oh my goodness! He looks like a little doll!"

The certain picture Hiruma placed his finger upon was a crisp color photo of Ryoma with said Karupin the First in his arms. His wide golden eyes were looking up at the camera and his face with was one of quizzical confusion. He was also, most notably, dressed in a frilly pink one-piece that had ribbons and lace everywhere and on his head was a white headband with a large, silk flower that held shiny beads in the middle. Ryoma was the very image of a sweet little girl.

"My sister came over to America for a business trip and brought along a lot of things for Ryoma," Rinko explained. "It seems she got confused when I told her about Ryoma because when she came with over with a bundle of these pretty dresses in hand she swore that I told her that Ryoma was the "cutest little princess". Of course, I couldn't bear to waste all the dresses because they were brand name and so pretty... so we just dressed Ryoma up in all of them."

And here she turned the page, and indeed each picture was one of Ryoma in a different dress. Hiruma stared with wide, unblinking eyes at all the lace and ribbons and _pink_. It was at that moment that something in him snapped.

"Mother?" the blond called out in a sickly, sweet voice.

Rinko didn't think anything odd about his sudden change and answered back, "Yes, Yoichi-kun?"

Hiruma was smiling (like a normal human being) and the air around him seemed to sparkle with dazzling innocence and charm. "Do you mind if I take a few of these photos for myself?" he asked in that same sugar-sweet tone.

"Oh my, by all means!"

"Thank you _so much_."

And Hiruma found his hands full with _great material_. He didn't even bother covering up the wide, fang-filled smile on his face as he stuck the pictures into a black notebook.

It was suddenly a good thing that Ryoma was not here.

(And Hiruma's opinion of Rinko shot up quite spectacularly.)

-End "Memories of You"-

Y'know… "oujou"=princess and "ouji"=prince. It's… kinda similar so shutup.  
And Ryoma WILL eventually learn about the photos. I'll make sure of it.

Hey someone draw Ryoma in a dress. I'll give you a present or something. I don't know.


	13. FAVORITE PLACE

**MACHINATION: ANOTHER DAY**

13…Favorite Place

It was something that made Ryoma feel like a bad person sometimes (and this was hard to do). Ever since he and Hiruma got together, his time with Momo was cut short. Of course, Momo told him not to worry about it, but it still ate at Ryoma.

So when Hiruma told him that he would be busy for the next few days "so we can't meet up. I know you'll be lonely without me, but you'll just have to make do." "I doubt I'll even notice you're missing." "Oh, we'll see about that.", Ryoma took this chance to hang out with his best friend.

But of course, since it was Ryoma who made the plans, they ultimately decided to play at the street courts then go for hamburgers afterwards (since it's been a while since he made Momo pay for him).

At the courts, they ran into Kamio and Ibu who at once jumped at the chance to challenge them. Momo agreed for the both of them (Ryoma raised an eyebrow at this) and they found themselves in a doubles match (even though Ryoma lazily reminded Momo that he still didn't know how to play doubles right).

But despite Ryoma's concerns, Momo seemed to fill up what he was lacking in well. The decided to go with their old Ah-Un strategy and that seemed to hold strong against the other pair.

It also helped that Ibu seemed to be preoccupied with something else.

During the match, Ibu felt like something was somewhat off with Ryoma, but no matter how hard he thought and speculated, he couldn't figure it out. He looked at Kamio who also looked somewhat confused and was intently staring at Ryoma with narrowed eyes. And due to their carelessness, they accidentally lobbed a ball in Ryoma's direction and the boy leaped for his, his shirt flipping up, showing off taunt stomach muscles and... Kamio and Shinji's eyes widened and they completely missed the smash because they were too fixed on what they just saw.

Ryoma frowned, unnerved by their staring. "… What's wrong with you two?"

"Yeah," Momo agreed. "You totally missed that."

Kamio snapped out of it first, but he sputtered out nonsense for a bit before pointing a twitching finger at Ryoma. "Echizen… you… li-lift up your shirt for a bit."

Ryoma and Momo exchanged bewildered looks. _What the heck_?

Sensing that their match would go nowhere at this point, Ryoma grumbled out complaints under his breath ("Dirty perverts") and lifted up the front of his shirt thoughtlessly and in a flash of instant face-reddening and eye-widening, he pulled his shirt back down.

But it was too late. They had all seen.

Momo hurried over to Ryoma and, despite the other teen's protests and flailing, he forcefully pulled up his shirt and turned bright red at the Ryoma's somewhat impressive collection of hickies and love bites as well as the hard-to-miss mark that seemed to have been left behind by fingernails.

Kamio collapsed onto the ground in peals of laughter. "E-Echizen is…! Ahahaha!!"

Momo let Ryoma wrench his shirt out his grasp and pull it back down defensively. The taller teen blinked owlishly and asked, "Are… those from… _that_ person?"

"If it wasn't from that _idiot_ who else would it have been from!?"

Then a wide grin slipped onto Momo's face and his eyes sparkled with mischievousness. "At least you'll be thinking about him every day. You lovey-dovey couple."

Ryoma scoffed. "If you're jealous then just say so."

"_WHAT!?_ Who's jealous!?"

However, despite all the ruckus from the others, Shinji stood quietly. He had a finger on his chin and seemed to be in deep thought. Kamio, noticing his friend's mood, walked over and nudged him playfully. "Hey, what's up? You're being awfully quiet."

Shinji turned to Kamio with a blank expression and began to mumble lowly in response, "... I was just thinking about the nail-trails on Echizen-kun's hips. Where could they have come from? If Echizen-kun really was doing something with a girl then those marks shouldn't really be there at all, right? They were shaped like they were gripping his hips instead of anything else. Unless he was dating some really butch girl that was abusing him during it all, maybe, but I can't imagine Echizen-kun dating some girl that looks like the Hulk—"

"Wait," Kamio cut in before Shinji got out of hand. "What are you trying to say?"

"… I think Echizen-kun's being done by a guy."

And Kamio choked and fell.

* * *

Once Hiruma had finished up whatever he was doing, he invited himself over to Ryoma's house over for the night. It had been a while since he last saw his boyfriend and even though he'd shoot anyone who'd even suggest it, he had missed him.

So it was quite a disappointment when the first thing Ryoma did when Hiruma walked in was throw a pillow at his face. Hiruma dodged it easily and turned to glare at a fuming Ryoma. "What the fuck was that for?"

"I told you not to leave marks where people can see!" Ryoma snapped, immediately jumping into the heart of the matter.

Hiruma raised an eyebrow and looked over Ryoma with a critical eye. Yeah. No marks. "I left them where people can't see! Unless you waltz around in front of other people without your clothes on you filthy sl—"

"I play tennis." Ryoma interjected at once. "My shirt doesn't cling to me and I jump up and down all the time. People are going to see if you leave them there."

Realizing that Ryoma was not going to back down from this battle, Hiruma rolled his eyes and gave up. "Fine. Whatever. I'll leave them everywhere else then."

Ryoma glared darkly and hissed out, "That's not what I mean."

"I'm not gonna _stop_ you know. I like seeing your perfect little body being all messed up by me." And he pushed Ryoma down onto the bed, climbing over his prone body like a predator. Ryoma felt his stomach jump when Hiruma's hot breath ghosted over his cheek. "It makes me feel good," the blond purred, running his hands over Ryoma's bared neck.

The sensation made Ryoma breathing grow heavy and his lips part. "Demon…"

"Hmm, I like putting them right _here_." And Hiruma grazed his teeth over Ryoma neck, getting a strangled noise from the teen. "My other favorite spot…" He lifted Ryoma's shirt up, exposing his heaving chest and he placed his lips on his left chest, over where the heart would be. Hiruma leisurely sucked at the skin, his tongue drawing nonsense patterns. Fingers buried themselves into blond hair and the sound of Ryoma's shaky moan made Hiruma's body burn.

"Stop… Hiruma-san…"

Without a word, Hiruma dipped down to Ryoma's legs. He pushed up the loose shorts the teen was wearing, revealing soft thighs. He kissed the inside and nipped it. He left his last mark right there and he pulled back to see his masterpiece.

Hiruma smirked in satisfaction, seeing how pretty the red of the mark was on Ryoma's skin. But before he could do anything else, strong hands pushed him down hard onto the bed. Dark eyes looked up with surprise, clashing with gold which also disappeared when Ryoma leaned forward and buried his face into Hiruma's shoulder. The blond gasped at the sudden pain on his neck where Ryoma sank his teeth into. Then the teen pulled back and ran his tongue over the raw wound, licking it leisurely like a lazy cat. Hiruma smirked and he pet Ryoma's head gently. "At least his Fuckin' Highness learns quickly."

"Shut up."

He was sure his teammates were going to be throwing a fit tomorrow in the locker room.

-End "Favorite Place"-

More on the "ECHIZEN'S GAY!?" arc later.


	14. HOMECOMING

Much love and thanks to Hyperdude and Chibi-Esque for their wonderful fanart of Ryoma in a dress.

**MACHINATION: ANOTHER DAY**

14…Homecoming

It had been a month since Ryoma left Japan for the world, going to train and ultimately compete for the Calendar Year Grand Slam. But even still, it wasn't an easy decision.

His friends had been all for it. They were just as supportive as they had been the first time around and this lightened up the load of burden on Ryoma's heart.

Hiruma… had a harder time with it.

Outwardly, he was just as confident and snarky as he always was. But on nights when they were alone and wrapped up in each other's arms, Hiruma would press Ryoma so close to him that it hurt and he would whisper little things into Ryoma's ear.

Ryoma squeezed his eyes shut and tried to sleep—tried to ignore Hiruma's resonating words.

But he couldn't. He couldn't stop himself from wanting to grow stronger. He couldn't stop himself from leaving Hiruma's side.

"_I love you._"

Ryoma further buried his face into Hiruma's suffocating embrace and he breathed in the scent of steel and sweet bubblegum. He knew that he would miss Hiruma as much as Hiruma would miss him, but…

'_I still have a dream.'_

Hiruma understood, so he never tried to stop Ryoma. He sent him off with a confident smirk and sarcastic, but still encouraging words. Ryoma rolled his eyes and snapped back with his usual quips. Their words were uncaring and casual, but they had a hard time letting go of one another's hands.

And when Ryoma took off, Hiruma stood outside, watching each airplane disappear from his sight, thinking that maybe Ryoma was on one of them. And his insides ached with from the emptiness.

And so a month went by; each passing day was dreadfully slow and lacking. Musashi and Kurita did their best to take Hiruma's mind off Ryoma's absence and Ryoma all but threw himself into his training. They exchanged mails everyday and talked on the phone every once in a while…

But it still wasn't enough.

'_I'm more obsessed than I thought_,' Hiruma deemed to himself, unable to tear his eyes away from the picture of Ryoma that he had put up as a wallpaper on his phone. It was like that saying, distance makes the heart grow fonder.

He knew that he would miss Ryoma to some extent, but he didn't realize that it would be this hard. Why was it this hard to cope without him? It was aggravating and distracting.

"I need to see him. I'm going to go insane and kill shit at this rate," Hiruma growled. His fingers tightened around his phone, squeezing it tightly. Then, as if telling Hiruma that it hurt, the phone rang. Hiruma dropped it in mild surprise before picking it up again and reading the front screen.

His heart jumped from his chest to his throat as he read "Fuckin' Prince". He quickly pressed the "call" button and put the phone up to his ear then he grinned. "Hey, Fuckin' Prince."

"Hey, demon."

At once, something within Hiruma settled and he felt at peace. His body relaxed and his wicked smirk turned warm. "Didn't you call two days ago? What, did you miss me that much?"

Ryoma scoffed on the other line and Hiruma thought he could hear him roll his eyes. "Miss you? Please."

"Still unusual for his highness to be calling me again so soon. Something up?"

There was a tense silence between them for a moment as Hiruma waited for Ryoma to talk. After a minute, Ryoma sighed and muttered into the phone, "I'm… at the airport."

Hiruma shot up like a bullet, eyes widening. "What?"

"I'm at the airport right now. Pick me up."

"You're…" And without needing to be told twice, Hiruma was on his feet and heading for the door. His mind was working fast and he eventually came to one important conclusion:

Ryoma was in Japan. Hiruma could see him again.

He flagged down a taxi and literally snarled at the driver while tossing paper money like confetti. "Tokyo Airport. I want to be there in ten minutes."

The taxi driver turned to look at Hiruma with shocked eyes. "B-but sir…! The Tokyo Airport is a good thirty minutes from here. Getting there in ten minutes is—"

"GET A MOVE ON, YOU FUCK!"

"YESSIR!"

* * *

Hiruma look around the pick-up area of the airport almost frantically. It was packed with people, most of them engaged in their own happy reunions with their loved ones.

But he couldn't see Ryoma.

Suddenly, his phone rang in his pocket. With fluid movements, Hiruma pulled it out and put it to his ear without even checking who the caller was. "Where are you?" he demanded.

"Turn around."

Hiruma frowned and looked over his shoulder at once, freezing when he caught sight of the familiar white cap, dark hair, and taunting golden eyes.

"…Ryoma," he breathed lowly, feeling a strange sort of numbness take over his body.

The shorter teen tipped his hat in a lazy greeting, his lips pulled into a smirk. "Why do you look so shocked?" he asked teasingly. Hiruma snapped out of his daze and returned Ryoma's expression with his own toothy leer. "Maybe because my peaceful alone time was ruined by a certain someone."

"Hmm. Who could that be?" Ryoma asked innocently. Hiruma ignored the question and pushed the bill of Ryoma's cap up, wanting to see his face. The teen allowed this and stared at Hiruma with his own bright eyes, the curl of his lips never fading.

"Why'd you come back?" Hiruma asked, running his fingers down the side of Ryoma's face. The other hummed at the sensation and answered, "I forgot something."

"Yeah? What might that be?"

"I'll _show_ you when we get home."

Home. That sounded good to Hiruma. He grinned and grasped Ryoma's hand in his and pulled him along. Neither of them cared about the public's eyes at the moment, too caught up in one another.

"Let's go home."

* * *

This was a familiar scene. Ryoma felt Hiruma's strong arms around his frame and his warm breath tickling the curve of his ear. He had missed this painful sensation so much in the last month. He couldn't sleep at night; the air around him was so cold.

Ryoma wrapped his own arms around Hiruma's waist and pressed his head against the blond's shoulder. He closed his eyes, just feeling the other's body heat mingling together with his.

"I'm home," he whispered lowly.

Ryoma smiled when he heard Hiruma's breath hitch and the arms around him tightened further. Hiruma laid a gentle kiss against his temple and smirked against his skin.

"Welcome home."

* * *

Sena walked into the clubhouse, waving around a sports magazine in his hand. "Hey, everyone look. There's an interview about Oujou High School in here. I thought we could all read it together."

Monta leaned over his friend, looking at the magazine curiously. "Heeh. Does it have anything about Sakuraba-san in it?"

"I would think so. He's the 'star' in the team, remember?"

Hiruma cackled, resting his legs casually on top of the table. "Maybe it has some information about some secret weapon."

Juumonji rolled his eyes at Hiruma's words. "I doubt they'd be stupid enough to do something like that—and why are you here? You're a third-year now, aren't you?"

The blond raised an eyebrow and cocked his gun at the challenge, daring Juumonji to question him again. Being somewhat smart and not-suicidal, Juumonji backed down and turned his attention back to Sena who was flipping through the magazine.

But he suddenly came to a stop with a cry of surprise. Everyone looked at him in confusion as he just stared down at a single page with round eyes and a slack jaw.

Monta was the one to approach him and tap him on the shoulder. "Hey Sena, what's—"

"Look!" The small runningback yelled and he shoved the magazine into Monta's face. "It's Echizen-kun!"

"EH!?"

Everyone (except for Hiruma who was still lounging around) gathered around Sena, looking at the open magazine. Indeed, as Sena had said, there was a full-page photo of Ryoma. It was an action shot of him in the middle of a Cool Drive.

"The young tennis prodigy Echizen Ryoma, after coming to Japan to continue schooling here, makes a spectacular comeback in the US Open," Monta read the article out loud for the entire team to hear. "If he is able to win this final tournament then he will have achieved his first Calendar Year Grand Slam. At the age of 16, Echizen Ryoma is proving to be the opening of the Golden Age to tennis...!"

At once, everyone turned to Hiruma who was cleaning his gun. They all had questions on their lips but the sight of the firearm made them consider otherwise. Then Hiruma looked up without warning, startling them, and he grinned widely at the picture in Sena's hands.

"Guess he'll be home soon."

_Home is where the heart is_.

-end "Homecoming"-

Ughgggh. I can't contain myself any longer. WHO HERE WOULD READ GAOU/RYOMA? (I would. Totally. After Hiruma/Ryoma I think this would be my next favorite.)


	15. YOUR BLOOD

Now that I've given everyone the impression that I'm going to write a Gaou/Ryoma next… (Guys, I'm not. XD) MORE HIRU/RYO!

**MACHINATION: ANOTHER DAY**

15…"Your Blood"

Just some normal day at some normal café. Ryoma yawned, bored out of his mind. He had long finished his parfait and was just staring holes into Hiruma who so was occupied with a book in his hands that he didn't even spare him a glance. It had already been a good thirty minutes and usually, by this time, two arguments would've gone down and they would be flirting shamelessly in their own messed-up way.

But there was none of that. Ryoma was bored and contemplating on just up and leaving.

As if realizing that Ryoma's rather fragile string of patience was about to snap, Hiruma, without even looking up from his book, asked, "Hey, Fuckin' Prince. What's your blood type."

Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "You already know, don't you?"

A wide grin spread over the blond's face as he acknowledged this fact. "Type O, huh. Funny. You strike me as a B."

"Hmm," Ryoma hummed lazily, playing with the left over chocolate syrup on the rim of the glass dish. "Yeah, I always thought your blood was black."

Hiruma cackled. "This book says we aren't a good pair."

"So surprising," the other teen deadpanned to which Hiruma leered and flipped the page.

"Now, now. Don't be like that," he said tauntingly while his dark eyes scanned the page. Ryoma watched as Hiruma's smug expression turned into one of disbelief and disgust as he took in the information written on the pages. "This book is bullshit," he said with a scowl.

"Why?" Ryoma drawled, not really interested but asking for the hell of it. "What's wrong with it?"

"Fuckin' shit. It says here that O-types are responsible and social and some other shit."

Ryoma took in this information with a mild expression. "Hmm," he hummed, idly flicking the little dessert spoon and making it clink against the glass. "Can I order another parfait?"

"You see what I mean?"

"I'll take that as a yes." And Ryoma quickly waved over a nearby waitress and asked for another parfait ("Give me the most expensive one on the menu—also, make out the check to Hiruma Yoichi."). When he turned back to Hiruma, he found that the blond was still reading the book with a renewed vigor. He sighed tiredly. "What's your blood type anyway?" Ryoma asked, hoping that the start of a conversation would bring Hiruma's attention back where it belonged. (On him.)

But the blond's answer was short and concise: "The best one."

Ryoma rolled his eyes and Hiruma, without even looking up to see it, grinned and said, "You're just jealous."

"_Mada mada dane_," the younger teen snapped back. Then the conversation died and Ryoma's parfait order came in. Wordlessly, Ryoma scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and popped it into his mouth, leaving it there to melt. He wasn't very good at small talk, especially when he wasn't insulting or taunting someone, but he didn't want to just sit here and watch Hiruma read some stupid book on bloodtypes (plus he wasn't hungry anymore; he just ordered that second parfait out of spite). "So…" Ryoma started awkwardly, trying to start a conversation again, "it says we aren't a good pair?"

"Yeah, we don't complement each other it seems." Hiruma answered distractedly, but he grinned all the same. "It's all your fault, you fix yourself."

Ryoma scoffed and leaned back into the uncomfortable booth chair. "You were the one who asked me out first. You should put more effort into this relationship."

"I always give my 100 percent for you, Ryoma-kun," Hiruma drawled sweetly, sending shiver up Ryoma spine and leaving goosebumps on his skin. "Don't say my name like that. It's gross."

"Kekeke, you see? That's why we aren't a good couple. Because you just toss my _love _for you to the side like it's nothing."

Ryoma frowned at his boyfriend who didn't look up to catch it. Honestly, his still _being_ there meant that Ryoma cared enough to stay even though, normally, he would have just left without so much as a by-your-leave. "In the first place, you asked me out today, but you haven't even looked up at me all day," he said darkly, straightening up and pulling his cap back onto his head. "You kept your nose stuck in that book that's made out of complete _crap_." Ryoma stood up briskly and grabbed his bag, lifting it up and over his shoulder fluidly. "I'm going to tell you now, Hiruma-san. We don't need a book to tell us that we don't really work out for each other _I'm_ smart enough to know that our relationship sucks. But that doesn't mean we don't love each other."

Hiruma blinked and looked up at his boyfriend for the first time since they entered the café and sat down. Ryoma was talking so smoothly and confidently that Hiruma could've sworn that he misheard that last part. Plus the fact that Ryoma didn't seem to realize that amazing thing he said made Hiruma doubt more—but there was no mistaking those words.

"Anyway, I'm done here," Ryoma continued. "I have better ways to waste my time then to sit here and watch you _read_." He turned on his heel to leave, but before he could even take a step, Hiruma quickly grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back, making him fall into Hiruma's arms rather heavily.

"My, you sure got pissy," the blond purred as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's shoulders. Ryoma, without even realizing himself, relaxed into the embrace. "What's the matter? Jealous of a little book?"

"Why do you always assume that I'm jealous of something," Ryoma asked without any real venom.

"So you aren't?"

Ryoma smirked and wordlessly turned around to press his lips again Hiruma's neck. The blond smirked and tightened his hold on the other teen. "And why is it that you say the most… _arousing_ things when you're annoyed?"

"Arousing?" Ryoma repeated with a frown. "What do you mean?"

Hiruma looked at Ryoma, searching his face in the same manner that he read the book from before. Then he shook his head. "No, it's nothing. Just talking to myself."

"Hnn. Weirdo."

"Let's get going then," Hiruma proclaimed with a wide leer and a cackle. After carelessly scattering random bills onto the table, he grabbed his weapon-of-today and stood up, pulling Ryoma along with him. "'I have better ways of wasting my time then watching you be a brat.'"

"If we do break up, it'll be your fault."

Hiruma cackled ominously in return.

And the two leisurely walked towards the café entrance, loosely holding hands. Then, without warning, Hiruma paused near the trashcan by the door and tossed his book into the bin. Ryoma watched him do this but said nothing.

"Book was bullshit anyway," Hiruma drawled with a grin. "We're _perfect_ together."

Ryoma shook his head to hide his smile.

-end "Your Blood"-

Type O – Warrior; O-types are social people, liking to be in the center of attention. They are also good leaders.  
Type A – Farmers; Very considerate to other people, often perfectionists. Very creative and artistic.  
Type B – Hunters; Rather impulsive, but B-types are very strong and passionate. Individualists.  
Type AB – Humanists; A rare type. Trustworthy and likes pleasing people, but they might come off a bit two-faced.

I'm a type O. What type are you?


End file.
